The Legend of Spyro: Drake's Legacy
by DragonReaper 1-6
Summary: A teenage boy is sucked into a world where dragons and other creatures both mythical and real, live in the same city. He meets a young purple dragon named Spyro and his friends and becomes a student at the local high school. But there's a secret to Drake. A secret not even he knew until he becomes enslaved by a dark tyrant. And even as the only one of his kind, he still finds love.
1. Spring Break at Warfang

The Legend of Spyro: Drake's Legacy

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor will I ever own TLOS series. I am a person that gives credit where credit is due. If you feel I somehow "ripped off" your story, please send me a message with the name of your story and where I "ripped it off." I'm also working on another story and if all goes according to plan, I should have a new chapter roughly every week or so.

Chapter 1: Spring Break at Last

It was a warm spring day in the city of Warfang. It was the last day of school for the students of TalonWing High School. It was home to many different creatures of all sorts; mythical or real. There were dragons, gryphons, cheetahs, wolves, and many more. Spyro and Cynder emerged from the main doors that lead to the courtyard, whose center was dominated by an gigantic fountain.

"Thank god school's over. I swear anymore of Mr. Gust's lecturing and I would have flown right out of class." Spyro relievingly said as he and Cynder walked down the stairs.

"Oh come on Spyro it wasn't that bad. You're just saying that because you think he hates your guts." Cynder jokingly said.

"Hey you know he does!" Spyro said being completely serious. "I mean why else would he give me an F on that test?"

Cynder rolled her eyes."Uh I'm kinda going out on a limb here, but could it possibly be the fact that you didn't study perhaps?"

Spyro scoffed. "Yeah sure." He said sarcastically.

They walked through the market district on their way home and saw Hunter, Flame, and Ember as they ran up to them. Spyro and Cynder were very good friends with them.

"So how'd you do on that test Spyro?" Hunter asked.

"He failed it." Cynder answered with a smirk.

"Yeah, only because he hates me!" Spyro said, his eyes wide open. Everyone burst out laughing as the all walked in the same direction. "What? He seriously does, why don't you guys believe me?" They all continued laughing at Spyro while they walked home. Eventually they all arrived home. While none of them were related, they all lived in the same household. They were greeted by Volteer.

"Ah there they are, just in time for a snack." Ignitus, Cyril, and Terrador looked over and greeted them.

"So how was the test young ones?" Ignitus asked.

"Spyro failed." Cynder answered on behalf of Spyro. Hunter, Flame, and Ember snickered while Cynder kept a straight face. Spyro shot a glare at Cynder.

"Dammit Cynder do you have to tell everyone?"

"And why Spyro did you fail? And you better not tell me the teacher hates you." Ignitus warned.

"Seriously am I the only one who has this problem? I doubt anyone else has to deal with this kind of stuff on a daily basis."

"Spyro the teacher doesn't hate you." Cyril said. "You just need to pay attention and study more."

"He's right you know." Terrador agreed."If you don't pay attention in class and study more, then it will effect you."

"Alright, who's hungry?" Volteer called. Everyone grabbed a sandwich and sat down while the young ones talked about their school day. After a few exchanges of stories about their school day and one of Volteer's lengthy stories, everyone ate dinner and headed to bed. Spyro, Cynder, Flame, Ember, and Hunter all started discussing what they should do over spring break as they lay in bed.


	2. Road Trip

Chapter 2: Road Trip

It was the last day of school before spring break for the students of Gator Valley High School. As the final bell rang, over 800 students poured from the school doors cheering and tossing their papers in the air. Among them was 17 year old Drake Dragonbourne. He was 5'11, 180lbs. He was a fairly muscular build but wasn't what you'd call a "Juice Head." He had 1 tattoo that went over his shoulder. The tattoo was a western dragon whose tail started around his mid-back and proceeded over his right shoulder blade and shoulder and stopped just under his neck, centered between his collar bones. The dragon's talons looked as though they were digging into his flesh but didn't draw blood. He walked over to the student parking lot with his helmet under his left arm. He spotted his Kawasaki dirt bike and walked straight towards it, weaving between cars in their parking spaces. As soon as he sat on the saddle, he sat down his Draxxus paintballs shoulder strap bookbag and fished for the keys. As soon as he found them and put his bookbag back on, a group of his friends ran up to him.

"Hey man, you ready for that trip we planned?" His friend Micheal asked.

"Hell yeah!" Drake said. "I've got all my paintball gear packed and I'm bringing the guns too: the M4, 1911, and 870." Drake and his friends planned a road trip to a huge paintball event in Illinois called "Living Legends." He was bringing other stuff like his snowboard, guns, and parachutes because they planned on doing a lot of stuff before and after Living Legends.

"You bringing your ghillie suit?" His other friend Dave, asked.

"Of course, and the vest too. Can't forget those now can we?"

"Also, remember to bring your parachute for skydiving. We've all been dying to try it with each other and you're the only one who skydives." Another friend Tyler reminded.

"Which one? The regular parachute or the one with winged suit?"

"Both."

"OK man. Oh hey are Troy, James, and Josh coming?"

Yeah, Troy's bringing an RV. Are you gonna ride with us?"

"Nah, I'm gonna take my dirt bike there."

"You sure? That's a lot of stuff you're gonna carry and it's a long way there considering we live in Florida."

"I'm sure. Remember? I have those removable bags that hook up to the sides."

"Oh yeah. And hey don't forget to bring your snowboard cause were gonna hit a ski lodge too."

"I won't, trust me."

"OK man, see ya."

"See ya."

Drake put on his helmet and started up his Kawasaki. He revved the engine and took of. 15 minutes later he arrived home and parked his Kawasaki in the driveway. Right when he walked in the door his mom greeted him.

"How was school Drake?" His mom called from the kitchen.

"Same old same old." He called back as he tossed his helmet on the couch.

"That's good. Oh hey, a package came in for you. I sat it on your bed. What was in it?"

"It must be the MREs I ordered a week ago." He ran in his room to see the package.

"Oh, is the trip today?"

"Yeah, Troy's bringing an RV."

"That's cool."

Drake made sure he had all his stuff already packed. He noticed the M82A1 SASR in its gun bag. His dad gave it to him since he was in the Air Force. He decided to take it with him as a little suprise for the guys. He found the boxes of ammo he put in his gun locker, loaded all the clips and put them in one of the duffle bags. He put the remaining ammo in the same duffle bag along with his M14, Remmington model 870 which had shell holders on the butt, and M82A1, all of which had slings. He kept his 1911 in a thigh rig/holster that held a few clips. He was amazed that he had never been busted with all the guns by the cops considering he was only a teenager. Another duffle bag had his dad's old ABUs and helmet before he retired, he even had his dragon skin kevlar vest he was bringing for the realism. It also had changes of clothes and all his paintball gear: a M.O.L.L.E vest that had magazine pouches instead of pod pouches since he used magazine fed markers although he did bring the pods and pod pouches as a backup. He took his backpack his dad gave him that he used over in Iraq and but a camelbak in it and brought a spare. He took along anything youd consider packing for camping except for the tent since they had an RV and took his electric guitar and amp. He put the 10 MREs he ordered in his sholder backpack along with his sunglasses and balaclava in his Draxxus backpack.

"Oh shit! Don't wanna forget these!" He grabbed his saw-back survival knife his dad gave him, his climbing picks, E-Tool, and hatchet. Seconds later his phone rang. He answered it and held it between his ear and sholder while he put on his butt-pack which had and aluminum canteen on it.

"Yo." He said just as he put his butt-pack on on put the phone in his hand.

"Hey man you almost ready? We're on our way to your place." His friend Troy said on the other line.

"Yeah i'm almost done, i'm just checking to make sure I have everything." He said as he rummaged through his bags.

"Ok cool, we should be there in about 10 minutes. And make sure you keep extra room in a bag or something cause you're carrying the Monster's."

"How come you don't just put them in the RV? There should be enough room."

"Trust me, we have so much stuff in the RV, there is quite literally nowhere to put them."

"Dude, how many did you buy!? And what flavors are there?"

"We bought enough to last us 2 weeks, let alone one! Hold on a sec." Drake could hear Troy ask what flavors of Monster they got."Ok, we've got orange Kaos and regular."

"Sweet! Ok i'm almost done, see ya."

He hung up and checked to make sure he had everything. He noticed his snowboard and parachutes that he nearly forgot and packed those. He had everything and took it all into the front yard next to his dirtbike and headed into the garage for gas and tools. He grabbed the 4 full gas cans that looked like the ones on a WWII jeep and the bags for the dirtbike. He went back and forth between the garage and dirtbike for his tool box, spare tires, tire pump, rims, brake lines, brake fluid, you name it. He started to pack everything and realized he forgot his Ipod. "Oh shit!" He sprinted back inside and grabbed his Ipod, all his headphones and earphones, and his helmet. "Tell dad I said bye!" He called to his mom as he closed the door behind him on his way out. The RV pulled up and immediately started unloading bag after bag of Monsters. They put them in which ever bag was least full and in less than 2 minutes, unloaded all the Monsters. He got on his dirtbike and put his Ipod in its dock and strapped it in, put on his helmet and started it. Immediately, Enter Sandman by Metallica started playing. He slung his Draxxus bag across his chest and took off with a wheelie behind the RV. For 8 hours they drove to Living Legends, only stopping to refuel and eat. Drake didn't use the gas cans because he wanted to use it only for an emergency. They crossed into Kentucky around at around 9:30. Drake knew they were almost there but he started to doze off. Just as his eyes were closing he started steering towards the median of the highway. He became more awake when he saw how close he was and turned away from it. Then he hit something and it jerked him into the wooded area that ran along the highway. He swerved around tree after tree and boulder after boulder as he barreled down the steep slope. He spotted a drop in the near distance. He tried to brake with the brake handles and even using his feet but did little use. He careened of the edge and plummeted down a 200ft drop. He came off his kawasaki and no sooner did hit the ground that angled downward towards the bottom. He tumbled helplessly down like a ragdoll head over heels. Finally, he reached the bottom but blacked out when he hit. There he lay, out cold next to his kawasaki, laying on his stomach while the sun started to set next to him.


	3. The City of Warfang

Chapter 3: The City of Warfang

Drake woke up with a pounding headache that seemed to pulsate to the beat of his heart. His eyes were barely open when he sat up. He removed his helmet and sat it next to him. He held his hand to his head, not realizing he was in an alley. After the headache subsided, he felt the ground to see if anything fell off him during the fall.

"What the-stone! I thought I landed in dirt and grass." He was confused why there was stone pavement instead of the dirt and grass he originally landed in. He staggered to his feet, using the wall next to him as support. He brushed himself off and checked to see if he had any injuries. "How the hell is nothing broken? The bike is fine too, I'm surprised the bike isn't shattered and I'm not dead right now." He finally realized he was in an alley. It was surprisingly clean compared to the ones he had seen in the cities. "Where the hell am I?" He heard chatter behind him and looked to see who it was. He was caught off guard by the intense light at the mouth of the alley. He shielded his eyes as he walked toward it, not even knowing what to expect. His eyes finally got adjusted to the light just as he left the alley. He lowered his hand, slowly being left in utter astonishment at the sight he was beholding. There were creatures of all sorts, some he believed were mythological until now. He saw dragons, gryphons, wolves, cheetahs, gators, rhinos, and so many more. Most creatures except for dragons and gryphons walked on 2 feet which was unbelievable to him. He jumped back into the alley hoping no one saw him. He recapped on the situation he was in. "OK Drake, you were on your way to a huge paintball event when you somehow managed to fuck up and plummet down a cliff, now you're in a city that has creatures you weren't even aware existed that could possibly be hostile to you. Now what smart ass?" He started thinking about how he was going to move through the city without being spotted. Then, it hit him. "Wait, you're in a city where creatures of all sorts live together in the same city, you should be fine. I better take a few things though, just in case the shit hits the fan." He brought his knife and sheath and strapped it to his other thigh and checked to see if his Draxxus backpack was still on him. He stowed his stuff in a corner of the alley and walked back out. He examined his surroundings and quickly realized he was in an apparent market district. It was fairly busy with people walking in all sorts of directions. He bobbed and weaved between people as he wondered aimlessly through the crowd. He could constantly hear the cries of the vendors selling their products whether it be food, clothes, or anything that people would buy. As he continued to wonder through the crowd he noticed a distinct figure just ahead of him. It was a red dragon wearing a special helmet that signified he was a soldier. He walked up to the soldier to see if he could tell him where he was. After all, what kind of soldier doesn't know what city they're fighting for.

"Excuse me." Drake said politely as he looked up at the dragon that was twice his size.

"How may a be of service to you?" The dragons voice was deep but friendly in nature.

"Do you think you could tell me where I am because I have no idea how I got here." The dragon had a puzzled look on his face but quickly changed to that of pride.

"Well, you just so happen to be in the city of Warfang! The greatest city in the valley of Avalar!" He said patriotically.

"Thanks." He said and continued onward. "Avalar? I could've sworn I was in Kentucky a few minutes ago." He thought as he walked out of the market district. He took a left and found himself heading towards a park. When he entered, he saw children playing games like tag and hide-n-seek. He noticed dragons made up the majority of the population which he thought was pretty cool. As he walked along a path that went through the park, a small, dark blue dragon ran into his leg horns first and fell. It wasn't too painful but he knew it might leave a bruise.

"You OK kid?" He asked as he helped him to his feet.

"I'm OK, thanks mister." He said when he looked up at him. Drake crouched down and smiled a kind hearted smile.

"Alright, just watch where you're going next time OK?" He said in a friendly voice as he laughed. A baby blue dragon ran up to him in a panic. Apparently it was the child's mother.

"I'm so sorry about that! He didn't mean to run into you!" She said with obvious worry in her voice.

"Don't worry, it's no problem at all." He said kindly as he stood."I know he didn't mean to. I know just how kids are. They can be a handful but they just fill you with joy. They're like little bundles of happiness that have a lot of energy. It's like when they finally seem tired, a second energy ball kicks in and they just keep going.

"I know what you mean." She laughed because it was so true. Drake patted the child on the head and walked off to explore more of the city. After hours of exploring, it started to get dark so he headed back to the alley. While he was exploring he did see an area that was remarkably similar to a strip mall which was kind of cool. He snacked on one of his MREs and slept against his Kawasaki. For the next 3 days he explored the city, not even seeing 1/3 of it. The next morning he noticed a series of dents in the side of one of the walls he never noticed before. It looked climbable so he instinctively did so. He climbed 20-30 feet and found himself on top of a flat topped building. He looked around and saw all the buildings had flat tops. He saw it as the perfect opportunity to practice his parkoure he hadn't done in a while. He pulled up his balaclava he had been wearing around his neck over his mouth and his nose then put on his sunglasses and his ABU patrol cap as he walked over to the edge of the roof overlooking the alley. He got a running start and leapt from rooftop to rooftop, some of which he landed with a roll, hardly being slowed. Spyro, Cynder, Ember, Flame, and Hunter were walking through the market district talking about what to do that day when a shadow quickly passed over them.

"Did you see that?" Ember wondered if anyone else noticed the shadow. Spyro looked to see where it came from and noticed someone on the rooftops.

"Up there!" Spyro pointed at the rooftops. Everyone looked to see someone running along them. "Who's that?"

"I don't know about you guys but I'm gonna find out one way or the other." Cynder said. She wasted no time and took to the skies and flew after him followed by Flame and Ember. Hunter leapt on a few crates and barrels to the rooftops followed by Spyro. Hunter and Spyro followed the strange person on the rooftops while Cynder, Flame, and Ember flew over head. Drake caught a glimpse of a cheetah out of the corner of hi right eye on the rooftops next to him.

"Let's see how fun this gets." He thought. Drake slid under some low hanging poles and soon the cheetah was on the same rooftops as he was. After 2 more rooftops, he leapt down into the street, landing with a roll to cushion the landing. They cheetah followed still, this time Drake noticed a purple dragon accompanied the cheetah. Then he saw a shadow on the ground and looked up to see 3 dragons: black, pink, and red flying above him.

"Now this is a chase." Drake thought as he smiled. "Time to give them a run for their money." He cut into a corner and found himself running through an empty street.

"Spyro! Cynder! Try to use one of your breaths to stun him!" Hunter said. Spyro shot a small bolt of electricity that missed him by inches. Cynder shot a poison needle that would paralyze him but Drake jumped over it as it passed through his legs. As they ran, Drake spotted a large shoot of bamboo and took it as he ran past. He turned into an alley that had a large wall at the end. It was just what he hoped for. He pole-vaulted over the wall leaving Hunter and Spyro heading straight for it. Hunter pole-vaulted the wall using his bow while Spyro just flew over. They came out the other side and the person was no where to be found.

"Do you see him up there?" Spyro called to Cynder who then landed in front of him with Flame and Ember.

"No, we lost track of him." Cynder's response was of disappointment.

"Who ever that was, he's good. There's not many creatures that can escape 4 dragons and a cheetah." Flame admitted.

"Should we keep searching for him?" Ember asked.

"We probably should. He might be up to something." Flame suggested.

"If he was trying something he probably would've attacked one of us at first before he realized there was more than 1 of us." Hunter argued.

"You might be right Hunter. It does make a little more sense no that I think about it."

"But if we are gonna keep looking for him, then we should bring food to keep our energy up." The group headed back to the house to get food. While they did, Drake headed back to the alley, pleased with his performance. The reason why he had so many hobbies and skills was because he was one of those people that live life to the fullest. For example, he would go skydiving every month back in Florida. He did parkoure because he thought it looked cool and ended up loving it. His guns and knives are from his love of weapons. He had a snowboard because every year his family would vacation in Colorado springs for a week at one of the ski resorts. He played paintball when ever he could because of the passion he built towards it when he was 10 years old. He also learned krav maga and a few other forms of martial arts for years from his next door neighbor who was an Israeli Commando before he moved to America.

"God, after wearing the cloths for 4 day I feel nasty. I better change when I get back to the alley." He finally got back and changed into some clothes that were in his one of his duffel bags. He changed into a microfiber air force T-shirt that had the air force logo over the left pectoral and on the back said "Battlefield Airman Trainee" and had the insignia of S.E.R.E specialists, Pararescue, CCT, TACP, and SOWT. He changed into new underwear of course, woodland camo BDU pants, and new socks. He felt it getting cool so he wore his black hoodie that had a red tribal dragon head over each pectoral and a red tribal design that went down both sleeves. He kept his balaclava around his neck and put his sunglasses in his Draxxus backpack and took it along with him. Before he left, he ate the rest of the MRE he rationed over the course of 4 days he had been in Warfang. He took a swig of water from his canteen then pulled up his hood as he walked through the streets. Spyro and the others got to the house at around late afternoon.

"Ignitus, do we have any leftovers? We're gonna be out for a while and we thought we might get hungry." Spyro asked as soon as they walked in the door. Ignitus was sitting in the living room talking with Cyril, Volteer, and Terrador.

"I suppose we have some leftovers in the kitchen." Ignitus said. "Why do you need them so badly?"

"We found someone running along the rooftops of the houses. We tried to catch him but we lost him."

"That must have been that noise we heard a few minutes ago." Terrador realized.

"Do you need any help catching him?" Ignitus offered.

"We should be able to do this on our own, but if we need help we'll come asking." Spyro said as Hunter grabbed the leftovers. The quickly left to continue their search. They began their search in the market district since it was where they first saw him. It wasn't too busy but there were still quite a few people walking about. They came into a clearing of people where they saw only one person walking walking in their direction. They couldn't see his face because it was concealed by the shadow of his hood. All they could see was his mouth and part of his nose. The figure looked familiar the instant they saw him. He still walked in their direction, his head tilted slightly, looking at the ground in front of him. When he got within 20 feet of them he glanced up to see where he was going and saw them looking straight at him. His face still concealed by the shadow of the hood. He slowly removed his hands from his hoodie pockets. They didn't flinch, not even fearing he had a weapon concealed somewhere other than the ones strapped to his thighs. The stranger started taking steps backwards, their forward steps matching the strangers pace. They slowly picked up speed as the stranger did. Then in the blink of an eye, it turned into a chase. The stranger took off, his pursuers breathing down his neck. As they turned into another street, Drake fell to the ground, the red dragon standing on top of him, holding him down.

"Bastard must have flown if he caught up to me that quick." He thought. "OK Drake, time to put those years of krav maga and other martial arts into good use." Drake rolled over, knocking the dragon off balance and hooked his arm around the dragon's neck. Soon, Drake was crouching over top the dragon, his arm on its throat and a fist pointed straight at its face. The dragon looked at what little of his face was showing, gazing at what he was sure was going to be his final sight. Then Drake uncurled his fingers and removed his arm from the dragons throat and ran off. Hunter came to Flame's side and helped him up.

"Are you alright Flame?" Hunter asked

"I'm fine. But one thing's for sure, this guy is no joke. We need to get help from Ignitus and the others."

"I couldn't agree more." Spyro said, realizing what he was dealing with. "Let's go, we need to get help if we ever hope to catch him." They sprinted back to the house trying to waste as little time they could. They barged through the door.

"Took you long enough." Volteer said, already know why they were there. Ignitus, Cyril, and Terrador had just walked into the room.

"We need your help!" Spyro wasted no time getting to the point. " We almost had him but he got away. I thought Flame was done for."

"Why what happened!" Terrador asked, suddenly worried.

"Flame managed to knock the stranger to the ground but ended up being the one on the ground after he hooked Flame with his arm."

"Did he have any weapons on him?"

"Yeah, he had a big knife and some weird looking thing strapped to his thigh."

"We've got to get rid of him!" Terrador nearly went into a rage.

"Now wait a minute Terrador, we need to know one more thing." Ignitus turned to Flame. "Did he ever try to use them at anytime you were chasing him?"

"No, he never seemed to try to use them or anything... I mean he didn't even reach for them at any point in time."

"See Terrador he isn't out to hurt them. I'm sure if we can catch him then we can get this whole ordeal straightened out." Terrador started to relax. "Spyro, do you remember where you first saw him?"

"Of course, we saw him in the market district on both occasions. The first time he was on the rooftops."

"What did he look like?"

"We couldn't see his face because there was a shadow from the hood he was wearing. We could only see his mouth and his part of his nose."

"Well, at least it's a start. Let's go, if we leave now, we might be able to find him before long." Ignitus and everyone else headed for the door. Ignitus abruptly stopped Spyro. "Spyro, I need you and the others to stay here, let us deal with this." Spyro had a disappointed look on his face.

"Do you at least know when you'll be back?"

"It shouldn't be more than a few hours at the very most." Ignitus opened the door and left along with Volteer, Cyril, and Terrador. "We won't be too long." Ignitus said as he closed the door behind him. It was dawn, and the sunlight was fading fast.

"This stranger is an interesting fellow. He doesn't seem to be a mindless killing machine. And with the way he reacted to the others certainly hints that he may be a diplomatic person that only resorts to fighting when necessary." Volteer commented as they walked through the empty streets.

"As do I Volteer." Cyril agreed. "His behavior seems to reflect a unique past in his life. I'm actually becoming quite fond on the idea of at least getting to know him."

They continued to search through every street until they saw one person walking on the other side of the street, heading in the opposite direction as them. Ignitus had a feeling this was the person they were looking for.

"Keep quiet, I think that's him over there." Ignitus whispered and pointed at the lone wanderer. They followed him at a distance with the stranger none the wiser. Drake thought it was a nice to have the streets all to himself. The peace and quiet was just what he wanted to bring him to complete tranquility. Then he started to feel eyes burning in the back of his head. He slowly turned to see 4 large dragons: Red, yellow, blue, and green, following him. When they realized he saw them they stood motionless, their tails swaying back and forth. They looked to be about 12 feet tall.

"Oh shit!" He said to himself and took off in full sprint. Volteer and Cyril took to the skies after him while Ignitus and Terrador pursued him on foot.

"Terrador! Go up ahead and cut him off, I'll stay on him!" Ignitus ordered with natural leadership. Terrador whipped around a corner and took off like a bullet fresh from the barrel of a 50cal. He broke right into the street where Ignitus was and blocked the Drake's path. He saw Terrador in the distance and cut right well before reaching him. Unfortunately he didn't realize it was a narrow alley he turned into and found himself at a dead end. He turned around, only to find Ignitus blocking his only exit.

"Are you ready to give up?" Ignitus asked, thinking he was trapped. Drake looked around the alley and noticed how narrow it was. "Well?" Drake faced one of the walls and started to jump from wall to wall, all the way to the top of the roofs.

"Impressive stranger. You have remarkable skills." Ignitus commended. Drake looked over the edge.

"Thanks. Better luck next time!" He called down and leapt roof to roof. Soon he was flanked by a yellow and blue dragon.

"It would probably be in your best to give yourself up my friend!" Volteer said to Drake.

"I'd listen!" Cyril added "You're just going to get caught anyway. There's no use in resisting."

"Where's the fun in that!" Drake called to them both.

"I see you're a fun-loving person. How about this for fun!" Cyril shot an ice stream at Drake. He slid under it and the ice stream went right over him, straight towards Volteer. He dodged it clumsily, nearly becoming an ice pop.

"Whoa! That was a little too close!" Volteer said. "Hey Cyril, careful where you aim next time OK?"

"Sorry about that Volteer, he's a little hard to hit because he's so agile!" Drake leapt back down into the streets and took an immediate left.

"How the hell!" Drake said, his path being blocked by the same red dragon that was in the alley with him. He whipped around and found that path blocked by Terrador. He looked over to his left and right, only to find Volteer and Cyril land and block those paths as well.

"Well well." Volteer said, taking a few steps forward. "Seems you're all out of options for your next escape route. It's been fun, we haven't had a good chase in a while."

"Now, we end this!" Terrador flew straight at Drake, with one beat of his wings. A roar erupted from his lungs.

"Oh fuck!" Drake rolled out of the way. The ground where he was just standing kicked up a bunch of dirt rocks as Terrador flew over. The dust cleared and Drake saw a huge crater where he was just standing not even 2 seconds ago. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Terrador! We can't kill him, he hasn't hurt anyone!" Ignitus flew up and blocked Terrador.

"Out of my way!" Terrador shoved Ignitus out of the way and shot a shower of earth at Drake.

"Holy shit!" Drake sprinted past Cyril. "Sorry gotta go!" The bits of earth were missing Drake. They all were hitting the ground near his feet like he was running away from a machine gun nest.

"He's getting away!" Terrador started flying after Drake but Ignitus stopped him.

"Cyril, Volteer, you 2 keep on him!" Ignitus ordered. They both took off after Drake.

"Terrador you need to listen to me! We can't just kill him because he's running away from us. If you were him I'm pretty sure you'd run if 4 dragons were chasing you!"

"But how do we know he hasn't done anything! How do you know he won't try to hurt one of the young ones!"

"If he was trying to hurt them, then he would have already to Flame! He's not going to hurt anyone unless he's put under circumstances that forces him to!" Terrador began to regain his rationality.

"I suppose you're right. I'm just a little paranoid I guess."

"I'm glad you see it my way. Now lets go help Volteer and Cyril." They took of after them and reached them in no time.

"This one is more agile than most of the creatures we've fought before." Volteer said as the 4 of them flew behind Drake.

"This is true Volteer but the question is: How long can he keep this up?" Ignitus said.

"Let's try to wrap this up, I'm starting to get hungry." Cyril said, clutching his stomach.

"Alright Cyril, I've got an idea." Ignitus flew over to the left in front of everyone and circled around. He landed in front of Drake. Drake baseball slid through his legs and grabbed the end of his tail. Ignitus flung his tail upwards, sending Drake into the air. He landed on top of Ignitus' head. He got down on one knee and patted the top of his head.

"You're gonna have to do a lot better than that." Drake said. He stood and slid on his feet down Ignitus' neck, back, and tail and continued to run. As he was being chased he dove through empty market stall and slid under ones that had openings on the bottom, dragging his left hand behind him, fingers grazing the ground as he slid on his left hip.

"He's too clever, we need to think of something else." Ignitus said.

"Maybe I can freeze him if we can get him out in the open." Cyril suggested.

"So now all we need to do is get him out of the market district." Terrador said.

"And to do that, we just need to block a few paths and guide him into an open area." Volteer said. Each guardian would block a path while the others would pursue Drake and guide him out of the market district. Eventually they got him into the open.

"Now Cyril!" Ignitus ordered. Cyril shot an ice stream at Drake, hitting him in his back. Drake started finding it harder and harder to move. Seconds later he couldn't move at all. He tried but it was futile. He looked down to find he had been frozen in mid-sprint from his upper arms down. The ice formed like an exoskeleton.

"Oh you've gotta be fucking me!"


	4. New Family

Chapter 4: New Family

A/N: Thanks to an anonymous review, there should be a lot less errors and weirdly worded sentences (Hopefully anyway). I encourage all my readers to warn me of any errors and suggest to me how I can fix them. Also, since I wasn't able to publish Chapter 3 like I hoped I would've, I decided to make up for it by bringing you Chapter 4. Updates and new chapters should be up weekly. Enjoy!

Drake heard the 4 guardians land behind. As they walked he could hear their talons clicking against the stone paved road. They stood in front of him, their tails slowly swaying back and forth.

"Well, you caught me, so are you gonna kill me or what?" Drake said, showing a lack of fear.

"Kill you! Why would we? We just want to talk." Volteer said, chuckling slightly.

"If that's so then why did jolly green giant over there try to flatten me?"

"I'm… sorry about that. I was kind of paranoid that you were trying to kill them." Terrador admitted shamefully, his head hung low as he said it. Drake felt like an asshole.

"Hey, don't beat yourself about it. I know where you're coming from, you were just protecting them. Besides, I've always had a fascination of dragons. I always thought they were pretty cool." Terrador's head perked up a little.

"Well I'm certainly flattered." Volteer said.

"Hey uh, you don't think you could possibly release me do you? Because-" The ice suddenly turned cold. "Ah! Cold ice is cold!" Drake started shivering violently, his teeth chattered like a jackhammer.

"Oh of course! Sorry about that, it was the only way we could stop you." Cyril said. Cyril's tail cracked the ice like a whip, shattering it into tiny shards. Drake was still shivering like he was in the middle of a tundra.

"Here." Ignitus blew a small amount of continuous fire. Drake got close and warmed himself, he slowly stopped shivering. After he got warm enough he pulled down his hood, finally they saw his face and his short brown hair.

"What's your name?" Ignitus asked.

"Name's Drake. Drake Dragonbourne." Drake held out his hand. He shook hands/paws as each guardian said their name.

"Ignitus."

"Volteer."

"Cyril."

"Terrador."

"So what brings you here Drake?" Volteer asked.

"To be honest, I have no idea how I got here. I just woke up in an alley that I don't even know how I got in. Hell, I don't even know how and if I can get back home to my family." His mind started racing just thinking about how he got to Avalar in the first place.

"It's truly unfortunate someone as young as yourself has been separated from their family and friends. I'm sorry for your misfortune." Cyril gave his condolence.

"Thanks, but you have nothing to feel sorry about. There's nothing you could've done to prevent this from happening. Anyway, it was nice meeting you all but I better get going. I'm starting to get kinda tired. And I've gotta say, you 4 surprised me at the tactics you used." Drake said cheerfully towards the end.

"But where will you sleep?" Volteer asked in astonishment.

"I'm just gonna go back to the alley where I keep all my stuff. I've been sleeping there for the past few days. It's actually not as bad as you'd think." Drake pulled his hood up. "See ya." He turned around and walked away.

Ignitus and the others looked at each other, exchanging looks of guilt. Then an idea struck Volteer. He shared it with the others. They all seemed to like the idea; Terrador however was a little less enthusiastic about it. Volteer decided to go with what he thought was right and went after Drake. Drake thought it was really peaceful walking through a city in the middle of the night because of how quiet and surreal it was. He stopped when he felt a paw on his left shoulder, he looked over to see there was, the talons extended down below the front of his left shoulder. He looked behind him and saw it was Volteer, flanked by Ignitus and Cyril.

"Yeah?" He said in a monotone voice.

"We'd like for you to stay with us at our home. It wouldn't be right to just let someone who was separated from their family sleep in the streets."

"I appreciate the offer Volteer, but I don't want to be a bother. I also don't want to stay where I don't feel welcome."

"Don't worry, you wouldn't be a bother." Volteer's smile was sincere. "And why wouldn't you feel welcome? I invited you to stay with us on everyone's behalf. We'd all like for you to join our family."

"I just feel Terrador isn't exactly "fond" of me is all."

"He's always like that when someone stays with us." Ignitus said. "He'll warm up to you eventually." Drake thought for a moment.

"Thanks Volteer, I'd be happy to join your family." Drake said, thankful for Volteer's offer. "Is that OK if I get my stuff from the alley?"

"Of course!" Volteer said cheerfully. Everyone followed Drake to the alley as he went to get his stuff. Then Drake followed the guardians back to their house, arriving in less than 10 minutes.

"Welcome to your new home." Cyril opened the door and waved Drake in.

."Wow." Drake was astonished at how big the house was.

He was surprised they had lights. The light came from crystals on the walls and ceiling like light bulbs. He noticed the living room he was in was well furnished with pillows neatly surrounding a low table, paintings, and ornate swords and pieces of armor. The kitchen had racks full of spices, a stove, oven, tableware, and some sort of what appeared to a refrigerator. It was pretty large and was made of some sort of metal. From what he assumed, all it did was insulate the food. It more or less resembled a giant cooler rather than a refrigerator.

"Over here is where you will sleep." Ignitus took Drake to a hallway and opened the first door on the right. Spyro and the others were sitting on the floor.

"Ignitus, you're back." Spyro said as he and the others stood.

"Everyone, please welcome our new family member: Drake." Ignitus motioned him in. Drake stood in the door way with his Kawasaki next to him and Ignitus standing behind him. Drake did a single wave.

"Hey."

Everyone just stood there in an awkward silence. It was so deathly quiet Drake thought he could hear his own heartbeat.

"So..." Cynder said, finally breaking the silence. "Were you the one on the rooftops?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"It's nice to have you hear." She said warmly.

"It's nice to be here actually."

"We have an extra bed over there next to mine and Spyro's." Cynder pointed. He set his stuff down next to the bed and rolled his Kawasaki over and leaned it on its kickstand. He took off his hoodie, boots, and socks, and plopped down on the bed on his stomach.

"Aw yeah, this feels so fuckin' nice." The bed was soft and comfortable. He hadn't slept in a bed for so long that he almost forgot what a bed was.

"OK young ones; we've had a long day. Get a good night's rest." Ignitus said closing the door.

Everyone got in their beds. Drake pulled the blanket over his stomach and moved his arms back laying the back of his head on his hands, the pillow lying just beneath that and finally closed his eyes.

"So Drake, why did you run from us?" Spyro asked, looking up at him from his bed.

"I wanted to see if I could out run you guys." Drake responded, his eyes still closed. "Apparently I did which actually surprised me."

He smiled a partially open smile and chuckled. His canine teeth were abnormally large like a dog's. Sort of like overbite for a person's front 2 teeth except it was his 4 canine teeth.

"Not that you're not welcome here but why did Ignitus invite you into our family?" Ember inquired.

"It was actually Volteer's idea for me to join your family, but it was because I was separated from my family.

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that." Ember's head lowered, feeling bad she just asked that question.

"It's alright. But let's get some sleep, I'm seriously burnt out." As soon as everyone else closed their eyes, they all instantly fell asleep.


	5. The Last Day of Spring Break

The Last Day of Spring Break

Drake woke up just before anyone else had. He got out of bed and stretched, his joints popping and cracking. He was double jointed (hyper mobile being the proper term) in all his fingers, he was able to put his leg behind his head and hop around on 1 foot, and could actually lick his elbow. He slipped on a new pair of socks, put on his boots and snuck out of the room. He crept through the hallway and found what looked to be an imprint of a ladder carved into the wall. He climbed the ladder and opened the door at the top. It was a rooftop that was like a place specifically made to get away from the everyday city life and just relax on your own slice of paradise. He sat on the balcony edge, his feet dangling below him. Below him was the market district, surprise surprise. It wasn't very busy with only a handful of people walking around. Occasionally he would wave to one of the dragons walking around and they would nod at him with a friendly smile. He looked farther out towards the villages; there were tall, majestic, purple, snow capped mountains with the orange hue of the morning sunrise shining on them, fertile plains and grasslands as far as the eye could see, part of which had rolling hills, a river that snaked and winded between hills, meeting with the lake that was nestled in the nearby lush, green, forest, finally there was the white sandy beaches that met with the crystal clear, emerald ocean.

"Ah, this is picturesque serenity at its finest." Drake let out a sigh at the beautiful scenery before him.

"You're up early." Volteer said, startling Drake. He looked behind him.

"Oh, it's just you. You kinda startled me." Drake said with his hand over his heart. Volteer chuckled.

"Yep, it's a beautiful scene." Volteer sat next to Drake.

"This is the sight I live for. It shows the tranquility of nature at its finest. You can't really find this kind of scenery anywhere else."

"I couldn't agree more."

There was a moment of silence between them as they watched the scenery. The only noise being the chatter of the early morning market.

"So why are you up so early?" Volteer asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I've just always been an early riser. I've always been a morning person as well." Cyril and Ignitus came up.

"Good morning Volteer. Good morning Drake." Ignitus greeted in a friendly manner. He and Cyril sat next to Drake.

"So where's Terrador?" Drake asked, imagining that Terrador probably didn't want to be around Drake.

"Oh him? He likes to sleep in." Cyril answered. "Once he's out he's like a brick. He just lays there gathering dust." He said jokingly, laughing as he said it.

"So Drake, if you don't mind me asking, what was that you were doing yesterday?" Ignitus asked.

"Doing what?" Drake asked, not even having the slightest clue what he meant.

"When you were running from us, you would do all these moves that I've never even seen before." Drake understood what he was talking about.

"Oh that. The stuff I was doing is called parkour or "free-running." It's a form of art in which "Tracers," people who practice parkour, overcome obstacles with speed, efficiency, and fluid body movement, often preferring the direct route to their destination." Drake practically gave the textbook definition to him.

"It amazes me what kind of art there is out there that I have yet seen. And to think you were performing art right in front us, and we never even realized it." Cyril said in astonishment.

"I hear that." Drake said, agreeing with Cyril's first statement.

"Did you ever go to school back at your home?" Ignitus asked.

"Of course I did. We were on spring break when I got here."

"The young ones are on spring break as well. Today is their last day before they go back."

"Well since I'm here, that means I go to the school here correct?"

"Correct. And most likely you'll have the same classes as them as well."

"Tomorrow should be interesting, what with being the new kid again." Ignitus started to laugh.

"So, who's hungry?" Cyril asked as he stood. Everyone else stood. "I'm assuming that's everyone."

"I think I'll cook today." Ignitus volunteered.

"Do you mind if I help?" Drake asked.

"You can cook too?" Ignitus said, astonished at all the skills he possessed.

"Yeah, I love cooking. I can make some pretty good food. I can also make some Spanish dishes."

"Spanish? I'm not familiar with that culture."

"It's part of my ethnic background. I'm also part Swiss and German. I can tell you about Spanish culture, the language, and traditions/holidays." Ignitus and Drake started tom walk away.

"Ignitus, should we wake the others?" Cyril asked.

"Wake them. I think we should all have breakfast together, to get to know our new family member Drake." Ignitus said as him and Drake went to the kitchen.

"I'll go wake the young ones, you wake up Terrador." Volteer said as he went to wake Spyro and the others.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!" Cyril stopped Volteer. "How about YOU wake him up?" Cyril said, poking Volteer in the chest.

"Oh I see how it is… You wanna settle this? Right here, right now!" Volteer challenged Cyril.

"Alright, let's settle this." They both got ready for the battle.

"Rock paper scissors SHOOT!" They both said simultaneously.

"DAMN!" Cyril said, slamming his fist.

"WOOOO! PAPER BEATS ROCK! UNDEAFEATED!" Volteer cheered.

Ignitus lit the wood in the stove while Drake got the skillets and pans.

"So what is this Spanish culture of yours?" Ignitus wondered.

"First of all, what do you want to know?" Drake asked as he grabbed eggs, potatoes, olive oil, and a few spices.

"Like their language and the foods they eat. The overall culture basically."

"Spanish is a language that is VERY touchy feely." Drake emphasized. "For example if they comment you on… uh… I don't know… your horns, they would start feeling and touching them. The Spanish language is also one of the 4 languages of love. The foods they eat are generally exotic in nature and are largely made up of seafood."

"Is that what you're making right now?"

"Oh no, I'm making eggs and fried potatoes." Drake said as he got the ingredients and the olive oil.

"So what else is there about the Spanish culture?"

"Let's see…" Drake thought as he cracked the eggs in the olive oil coated pan and chopped the potatoes. After which he coated the skillet in olive oil and tossed in hand-load after hand-load of chopped potatoes. They instantly started sizzling in the hot oil as well as the eggs. He grabbed a spatula and started to scramble the eggs and put some spinach in it. He would go back and forth between the eggs and potatoes. The kitchen was filled with the smells of eggs and fried potatoes which made Ignitus' mouth water. "When they meet new people, like when their neighbors invite them into their homes, they give each other a kiss on both cheeks. Another big thing is if a neighbor gives you some food on their plate, you never return an empty plate. You have to give them some of your food. One last thing; the Spanish take care of you. If they invite you into their home, they feed you. They consider everyone family. They are a very nice people."

"They certainly seem like a people rich in culture." Ignitus said as he watched Drake finish the food with a few shakes of salt in the eggs and fried potatoes.

"They sure are. They even have their own forms of dance. The tango and flamenco are 2 popular ones." Drake said, just finishing the food when everyone walked in. they were greeted by the aroma that wafted into their nostrils.

"Something smells good!" Flame said as he sniffed the air. "What is it?"

"Spinach scrambled eggs and fried potatoes." Drake called from the kitchen. "Can you set the table Ignitus?" Drake asked politely.

"I'll get it." Hunter volunteered. He grabbed plates for everyone and utensils for him and Drake and set the table in the living room.

Drake carefully brought the pan and skillet into the living room, trying to not spill the huge mounds of food on them. He sat them down on the table and tasted each just to make sure they were done. They were cooked perfectly and were flavorful.

"Alright everyone eat up! There's plenty for everyone!" Drake said cheerfully.

Everyone used the spatula to get some eggs and potatoes. Everyone dug in as soon as they got the food on their plate. All the dragons ate their food straight from their plate while Drake and Hunter were the only ones to eat with a fork. For the next hour everyone scarfed down the food like they hadn't eaten in ages. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food which gave Drake a sense of high accomplishment. Eventually everyone slowed to a crawl as their stomach caught up with them. Then, everyone started moaning like zombies.

"That… Was amazing." Spyro said, his paw resting on his stomach. "I can't even eat another bite." He let out a short, deep burp.

"Glad to here that." Drake said, laughing slightly. "Because we don't have any left." Drake was pleased everyone liked his cooking.

"Where did you learn to cook like that?" Volteer asked.

"My mom taught me all the cooking I know. That and I just love to cook."

"Well you certainly show it." Cyril commended. "Your cooking reminds me of the cuisine my royal bloodline would make. The flavor was rich and savory." Cyril boasted. Everyone groaned.

"Ugh! There he goes again." Spyro groaned.

"Why what's wrong?" Drake asked with a confused look on his face.

"Cyril does this all the time. He brags about his royal ancestry and stuff which gets really annoying." Spyro explained.

"So it's that bad?"

"Yep."

Well to be honest, I actually have a royal bloodline of my own. I don't actually mean kings and queens parse, but more like nobles and high class citizens. They were often envied upon by other noble families because of their status which was really high up." Drake said, trying not to sound like he was bragging.

"Well it's certainly nice to have another person of royal bloodline I can relate to." Cyril said, finally having someone of a similar bloodline in the family.

"But that doesn't mean I'm not a person that doesn't like to get down and dirty."

"What exactly do you mean?" Ignitus asked.

"What I mean is I'm militaristic as well. I love weapons, armor, anything that involves the military I love. I was even planning on joining the military back at my home."

"Ha-ha, well now, it seems he's also a militaristic one just like you Terrador!" Ignitus nudged Terrador who seemed to gain interest.

"What kind of weapons?" Terrador wondered.

"Mainly the weapons I'm use to seeing."

"What weapons do you mean?"

Drake excused himself from the table and fetched his weapons. He cleared a spot on the table and laid his guns out followed by his knife and hatchet. Everyone looked at the alien weapons before them. Wonder filled their eyes as they thought about how they work.

"What are they?" Cynder asked, wonder in her voice. Drake pointed to each one.

"This is a sniper rifle, shotgun, semi-auto rifle, and a handgun." Ember picked up the handgun.

"Whoa! Hold on now!" Drake snatched it from Ember's paw. "I'm sorry but you shouldn't mess with these. You shouldn't even handle these unless you've been properly trained to operate these."

"I'm sorry. I thought it wasn't too dangerous considering the size of it." Ember admitted sincerely.

"It's ok; just trust me on this one. It may be relatively small compared to a bow, but this handgun is more than 100X more powerful than a bow and arrow." Terrador's eyes widened.

"For some reason I believe you." Terrador admitted.

Drake put away his weapons and they started having conversations about anything that came to mind. For almost a minute there was a silence between everyone, trying to think of what else to talk about.

"I better clear the table." Drake said as he stood up.

"Oh no! Allow me." Volteer sat Drake back down and collected the dishes and put them in the sink. Drake stood back up.

"I think I'm gonna go k off some of the food we ate. I'll be back in a little while." Drake said as he headed for the door.

"Is that ok if me and Ember come along?" Cynder asked.

"Sure why not?" Drake said, holding the door open for them.

They walked out and Drake closed the door behind them. Spyro and flame shared a confused look as they looked at each other then back at the door.

"What do you think that was about?" Spyro asked Flame.

"I'm not sure. Do you think they're trying to keep an eye on him?" Ignitus interrupted them.

"Don't worry young ones; Drake is part of our family now. There's nothing to worry about, they probably just wanted to go with him because they didn't want to stay here all day." Spyro and Flame accepted Ignitus' theory. "Anyway, let's get to the sparring room. You need to keep your skills sharp."

Spyro, Flame, and Hunter headed to the sparring room with Ignitus and the others while Drake, Cynder, and Ember walked around the city.

**Sorry this chapter was so late, I was busy helping my dad prep his restaurant for Wednesday when it opens… That and overall I've been busy with homework and other stuff. Hey, no one said it's easy being a sophomore in high school. And sorry the Chapter was so slow; it should get better in the next later on… I've got so many twists and plans for the story I think you'll all love. Next week I should have the next chapter up. Hope you like the story so far…**


	6. The Last Day of Spring Break Part 2

Chapter 6: The Last Day of Spring Break Pt. 2

A/N: Here's Chapter 6. Sorry it took 2 weeks to write, my typing finally caught up with my writing so it could take longer to upload new chapters. There was so much typed in this one chapter alone that with size 11 Calibri font and single spacing, it took up 11 pages! Also at the end of this chapter there will be an extended summary since I didn't have enough room to put everything I wanted in the little space they gave me. And please, leave a review on what you think so far. It really helps to know there are people who like to read what I write. It gives me inspiration for future chapters. In fact, I'm already expecting Drake's Legacy to have 3 parts (This being the 1st). . Anyway, without further ado, I present Chapter 6: The Last Day of Spring Break… PART 2!

Drake, Cynder, and Ember walked throughout the city, looking at all the nooks and crannies that the city had to offer them. It was a cool 68 degrees with a nice, gentle breeze that would pass by every few minutes. They strolled through different districts like the market district (of course), the housing district, and the metal district (the name was because of it being the district where the blacksmiths kept their shops). Eventually they ended up strolling into the park, where Drake climbed atop a nearby hill that had a large flat top and had a tree on top of it. He sat down as Cynder and Ember followed him up. While Drake sat, Cynder and Ember decided to do a little sparring. He watched as their talons extended more prominently, signaling that they were about to start. Then, they did something Drake never expected… They stood on their hind legs.

"What the hell! They can stand on 2 legs!" Drake sat up as his eyes widened in astonishment.

They would swipe at each other with lightning fast speed and fire-like ferocity. To avoid them, they would move backwards, flapping their wings to help them. They would use weaker versions of their breaths as well as their horns and weapon tipped tails. Their hits and swipes went back and forth until Cynder got back down on 4 legs and rammed Ember in her stomach, knocking her to the ground. Cynder leapt on Ember and pinned her to the ground. She laughed and let her up.

"You can stand on 2 feet!" Drake nearly yelled as he ran up next to them.

"Of course." Cynder said, surprised Drake didn't know that they could. "We really only use it for combat though, and even then we use it sparingly. We can't actually walk on 2 feet though."

Standing on 4 legs, they both came up to the lower are of his ribs above his stomach. On 2 legs they were just a few inches shorter than him, around 3-4.

"So what, is it only creatures that have wings that walk on 4 legs?"

"Pretty much."

"What about combat? Does that help at all?"

"It can, it just depends on the enemy you face."

"That's pretty kickass." Drake commented expressing his impressments. Cynder thought for a moment. Then she got a sort of idea that she thought would help him feel more welcome in the family.

"Why don't you spar with me?" Cynder invited eagerly. Drake just stood there in confusion, not knowing whether to accept or not.

"Wow, I uh…" Drake started stumbling, trying to decide whether to accept or decline the offer. He didn't expect for Cynder to offer him to spar with her. "Well… I uh… I… Guess it… Wouldn't… Hurt to… Give it a try." Drake accepted reluctantly. Ember stepped away and decided to observe the match.

"Do you have any sort of special abilities or attributes?" She asked as she prepared. Drake thought for a moment.

"Do opposable thumbs count?" He said jokingly s he moved his thumbs with a goofy smile on his face. Cynder chuckled.

"No… Not really." She gave the same partial smile Drake had.

He saw Cynder's talons extend a she got into a fighting stance. Drake then got into his fighting stance as Ember watched intently.

"I'm waiting." She said with a closed mouth smile.

From the position she was in, Drake assumed she was either going to lunge or pounce as soon as he made the first move. He quickly formulated a plan to test his theory. He jerked forward, faking a head on attack. She did just as he thought and lunged; apparently she had too much anticipation. He pivoted on his left foot and leaned back in 1 smooth movement, sending Cynder right past him. She whipped around and looked at Drake who was looking at her with a serious face. She gave a small smile and a nod of impression. She used her shadow breath and shot a dark purple sphere that had a black tail like a comet. Drake dove down onto his stomach, just in time to avoid it by the skin of his teeth. As it passed over he heard strange whispers that seemed to call out to him coming from the black ball of shadows. Drake stood and brushed himself off.

"What the hell was that!" Drake was a little frightened from the whispers. "It just talked to me!"

"What did?" Cynder asked, confused what Drake was talking about.

"That thing you shot at me! It started whispering to me like it was trying to communicate!" Drake was a little frantic at that point.

"Don't worry; I used a weaker version of my shadow breath. It still clouds your vision a little but its effects aren't nearly as strong as the real one I use in actual combat. That one starts to mess with your mind."

"Well which ever version that was still doesn't explain why there where whispers coming from it!"

"That's strange, that's never happened before. I didn't even hear anything; maybe you just thought you did." Cynder suggested. "Did you hear anything Ember?"

"Not at all; are you sure you didn't just imagine it Drake?"

"I guess I might have. Anyway, let's continue." Drake said as he got back into his fighting stance.

Cynder stood on her hind legs and immediately started throwing one swipe after another, some coming within inches of his stomach or face. Drake skillfully dodged each one that came at him almost like he was made of water. On the last few swipes Drake started stumbling backwards. Cynder took advantage of this and got back down on 4 legs and lowered her head to charge him straight at his stomach. Finally catching his balance, Drake placed his open hands in front of him just in time to catch her by the horns. He tried to push back but he started sliding backwards while she kept pushing. Then, he leaned to his right and crossed his arms, causing Cynder to fall on her side.

"Hell yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Drake cheered as he did a victory dance. He stopped and went back over to Cynder who was still lying on the ground. He was about to help her up when out of nowhere Cynder's tail wrapped around his ankle and yanked it, sending his feet in front of him as he fell on his back with a thud. She stood and walked over to him while he tried to get back up. She held him back down with her paws to his chest, then transitioning over to his arms. He tried to move but it was in vain. Cynder grinned at him.

"It's not over until one of us is pinned to the ground, unable to get up. And by the looks of it… You lost." Ember walked up next to Drake who was still pinned.

"Don't be ashamed Drake it's your 1st time, you'll get better with a little more practice."

"Hey, if I had fought a dragon before I would've won." Cynder and Ember giggled as Cynder let Drake up. He brushed himself off as he walked toward the edge of the hill looking out at the city.

"Hey Ember…" Cynder whispered. "I've got an idea." She motioned towards Drake and started creeping up behind him. Ember soon followed after she realized what Cynder was trying to do. As Drake looked out towards the city, he spotted a large building in the distance.

"What building is that out there?" Drake asked as he pointed to it.

When he received no answer, he turned only to see Cynder and Ember creeping up on him. They leapt onto him and wrapped their arms around his neck as he fell backwards down the hill. As they tumbled down Cynder and Ember where laughing while Drake was taking the brunt of the damage tumbling down the hill. Eventually even he couldn't help but laugh and soon enough, they reached the bottom and were lying on their backs looking up at the clouds while still slightly laughing. Drake looked over at Cynder and Ember, still in a small fit of laughter.

"What was that for?" Drake asked looking at Ember.

"Don't look at me it was Cynder's idea." Ember pointed. Drake turned his attention to Cynder who was looking at him.

"Well Cynder? I'm waiting." Drake said with a partial smile. He couldn't wait to see what excuse she would make to get herself out of the situation.

"It was just for a good laugh." Cynder chuckled. "I mean we are laughing right?"

"Ok I'll buy it. I mean I did have a good-"

"CYNDER!" Someone called. Cynder and Ember both thought the voice sounded familiar and looked over. They recognized it as a friend of theirs and jumped to their feet.

"TESLA!" They both went into a full-on sprint to meet her and catch up on what they did over the past week.

Tesla was a lightning dragon who was a slender build, as was natural for all female dragons, compared to males being a more muscular, bulkier build. Her horns remarkably looked almost exactly like Ember's except that they were a more golden yellow like her body. At just behind the tip of her tail were 2, edge side out, scimitar looking blades that looked like they were made of crystallized lightning. They almost made the entire end of her tail look like a pitchfork, the exception being that the blades sort of curved outwards.

"I haven't seen you 2 throughout spring break! Where have you been!" Tesla exclaimed, ecstatic she finally found some of her best friends.

"We haven't really been anywhere. We've just been walking around the city and eventually we ran into Dra-"Cynder just noticed Drake wasn't there. "Wait where is he?" Cynder and Ember looked around. "Oh there he is." Cynder pointed. Ember and Tesla looked over at where Cynder was pointed to see Drake running towards them.

"Hey! Do you think next time you run off you could warn me first! Just sayin' because I was just laying there and had an entire conversation with myself!" He called to them as he ran. He got to them but was panting slightly as he started catching his breath. "Yeah, just uh… Just… Just warn me next time… OK?" He looked over at Tesla. "Who's this?"

"This is our friend Tesla. We've known her for a while." Ember introduced Drake to Tesla.

"It's nice meet you Tesla." Drake introduced himself and kissed her on both cheeks and gave a warm, friendly, closed mouth smile. Her eyes widened as she put her paw to her cheek. She started to blush and giggle a little.

"What was that?" Cynder asked confusedly.

"It's part of Spanish culture to give a kiss on each cheek after you meet someone. Which reminds me, I forgot about that when I met you." He kissed Cynder and Ember on both their cheeks, causing them to both blush.

"So…" Cynder giggled a little. "Do you wanna walk through the park?" She asked Drake.

"I'll go if everyone else wants to." He said. Everyone else reached an agreement and they all started to walk along the path that went through the park. Drake walked in front while Cynder, Ember, and Tesla put some distance between them and Drake, just out of ear shot.

"Where did you meet him?" Tesla asked glancing at Drake for a moment.

"We found him running on the rooftops above the market district. He got away from us twice but Ignitus and the others finally caught him just yesterday night."

"That must have been who I saw a few days ago. I saw him jumping rooftop to rooftop except he was wearing different clothes."

"That was when we first saw him." Ember said. There was a brief pause between them. Tesla looked at Drake.

"He's pretty cute. What do you 2 think?" Tesla finally said still looking at Drake. Cynder and Ember looked at her in utter shock, their mouths gapping open. Tesla looked back at them. "Oh you know you think he is! Just admit it! You 2 are blushing right now as we speak!" Tesla accused.

She caught them red handed (or 'pawed' so to speak). And she was right; they were blushing. They were even choking on their own words just trying to think of something to say to hide it. Cynder looked at Drake and let out a sigh as her head lowered.

"Ok it's true. I think he is pretty cute." Cynder admitted.

"Yeah, he is pretty cute." Ember said. She had a tone in her voice that suggested embarrassment. As they went deeper into the park along the path, Tesla had an idea.

"Cynder, Ember, check this out." She shot a small bolt of electricity at Drake and hit him in the butt. He jumped and covered the spot where he just got zapped.

"Ow! Son of a bitch!" Drake yelled. He looked behind him but saw only Cynder, Ember, and Tesla which made him suspicious. He raised an eyebrow and continued. He huffed and shook his head as he rubbed the spot where he got zapped. Tesla zapped him again in the same place. He jumped again. "Ow! Fuck!" He looked at Tesla. "Really!" Tesla chuckled smugly and zapped him again. "What the hell! Quit it!" She zapped him again. "What the hell!" Drake took off trying to get away from her.

Tesla chased after him and continued to zap him. Cynder and Ember watched as Tesla chased Drake back and forth and continued to zap him. They collapsed into fits of laughter, clenching their sides and gasping for air as they laughed. In the distance they could hear him screaming.

"What the fuck! Will you stop-Ah! Fuck that hurts! Seriou-Ah! Shit! God damn that hurts like a bitch! Will you-Ah fuck!"

After about 5 minutes Drake fell to the ground and rolled on his back, writhing from the multiple shocks he took. Tesla walked up to him and sat on his stomach, her paws on his chest. She bent down and smiled at him, Drake on the other hand, had a blank, irritated expression.

"You're a total asshole." Drake said, his expression not changing in the slightest. Tesla chuckled at his comment. The way he said it made her more attracted to him; a little more than just thinking he was cute.

"You're a funny one no doubt about that." Tesla complimented.

"Thanks, I appreciate that. Now, would you please get off me?" Drake asked politely, although he had a slight tone of irritation.

"If you want me to get off, then you'll have to get me off yourself." She poked him in the nose with her tail upon ending the sentence. She then crossed her forelegs over his chest and rested her head on them. Drake groaned.

"You just love to do this to me don't you?"

"You could say that." She said with a friendly smile.

Drake tried to push her off but was to sore to from all the running and getting zapped. For 15 minutes he just laid there, saving his energy. Finally he managed to push her off but just barely. Something in the distance caught his eye in a patch of grass a few meters from him. He walked over to it and saw it was a large egg that had red rings going around it. He picked it up; it was so large he had to pick it up with both hands. He carried it back to the others, being extra cautious with the egg and where he stepped.

"Cynder." He was trying to keep the egg from falling. It surprised him how heavy it was. "Look what I just found."

"Where did you find that?" Cynder asked in disbelief.

"I found it over there in the grass." Drake pointed with his head.

"We should take this to the hatchery, come on I know a shortcut."

Within 5 minutes they were in front of a grand white building. The bricks it was made of where clean and white as the sand on a beach. It had 2 large marble columns that held up a triangular protrusion which reminded Drake of the Parthenon. There was a set of heavy maple double doors with gilded door rings where door knobs would have been. Cynder opened the door for him and Drake walked into what looked like the interior of a castle. He looked around at how clean and white it was. There were 4 columns in the center that had ornate lanterns on them. The ceiling had a beautiful crystal chandelier centered between the columns. The floors where actually made of granite which was strange to him but he actually thought it looked nice.

"Hello?" Drake called. His voice echoed like he was in the Grand Canyon. "This place is huge!" He gazed in astonishment at the grandeur of it all.

Then a door opened and a pink dragoness came out. Her underbelly was a more whitish pink, yellow horns that curled somewhat backwards but to no degree that was as severe as a ram's horns, and the tip of her tail, like all dragons which had some sort of weapon tip, was in the shape of a spear/pike.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting." Her voice was like that of an angle. "What brings you here to the hatchery?"

"Well, I found this egg in the park and-"

"Wait was the egg doing in the park?" She interrupted.

"We're not sure but as soon as I found the egg we came here."

"It's good you came when you did. Bring the egg and come with me, the rest of you wait here."

Opened the door to the left and went down a few steps. At the bottom of the stairs she opened another door and let Drake go through first. As soon as the door opened, a blast of warm air hit him that was similar to looking into an oven. The room was very warm but somewhat dimly lit. It had nests made of soft grass in a sort of crib/cradle.

"Here's an empty one for the egg." She said as she patted the inside.

Drake gingerly placed the egg in the center of the grass bedding. He looked around at all the eggs; they all had a unique pattern that suggested what element the hatchling was going to be. One egg was a dark blue with white crackling lines going down it. Drake assumed it to be a lightning dragon based on the crackles. Another was a black egg with red flames that started at the base and crept up half way and orange circles going around the top of it. This was a little less obvious to him but he guessed it to be a fire dragon. Drake walked over to each crib and looked at the eggs while the dragoness followed him. He got to one crib and noticed the egg shaking slightly. He got closer to it and heard a faint tapping noise.

"I think this egg is about to hatch." He said looking a little closer.

She looked at the egg with him. The tapping then turned into a cracking and in no time at all the top of the egg came off and the baby dragons head poked out. It looked directly at Drake and the dragoness. The hatchling quickly realized it was still in the egg and struggled to get out. Once it realized it was stuck its face expressed distress and started to snivel. Drake felt heartbroken and wanted to help.

"Is it ok if I help?" He asked still watching the hatchling.

"You may if you wish." She said keeping an eye on him.

Drake reached in and started to break the shell piece by piece. The hatchling soon stopped when it realized Drake was helping and got excited and continued to try to free itself. Drake broke off just enough of the shell for the hatchling to tumble right out of the egg. It sat up and shook itself off. Then it looked exclusively at Drake, its head tilted in curiosity. It was red with a steel looking grey chest and underbelly. It had white horns that angled outward then back in and what looked like an arrow head at the tip of its tail. It surprised him that they were born with a weapon tipped tail that was made of metal and not soft scales at first. Its eyes were large and ironically, red.

"Aw, it's adorable!" Drake said reaching in to pick it up. He stopped in mid-reach. "Is that ok if I pick it up?" Drake asked. She thought for a moment.

"I suppose." She said reluctantly. She usually didn't let anyone hold the hatchlings, but she could see Drake's caring, sensitive, loving side emerge.

He carefully picked up the hatchling just below its forelegs like you would with any other baby. It looked at him and smiled a somewhat open mouthed smile. It had small sharp teeth that were about the size of the prongs on a staple. The hatchling put its paws on his face causing Drake to start laughing which also made the hatchling laugh along with him. Drake cradled the hatchling and tickled it. It started to bat at his finger like a kitten, but then it grabbed it and bit his finger. He held his breath as his face quickly expressed pain as it kept biting his finger. He managed to pull his finger free and tuck it in his arm. The hatchling started to laugh. Even though it hurt Drake was never mad at it in the first place. The dragoness started to laugh at Drake's playfulness and affection towards the hatchling.

"I never realized how caring you are, especially with the hatchling." She complimented.

"Well of course!" Drake said untucking his finger. "I love kids! I'm just one of those people who are protective of them. I can't stand to see them being hurt or sad or crying. It's just who I am." He looked back at the hatchling and smiled his partial smile.

"You know, I don't recall introducing myself." She said reflecting back. "My name is Topaz." She said softly.

"It's nice to meet you Topaz. I'm Drake."

"And it's nice to meet you Drake. Anyway we should probably get this one to one of the other caretakers." They walked back up to the entrance area where Cynder, Ember, and Tesla were waiting. "You may come with us if you wish." Topaz said as she and Drake walked past them. They followed them as they climbed a large circular set of stairs.

"You said other caretakers; does that make you the head caretaker?" Drake asked.

"That is correct; why do you ask?"

"Well since you're the head caretaker, can you tell me if this is a boy or a girl?" Topaz glanced out of the corner of her eye at the hatchling.

"That is a boy. You can tell because a girl is more slender."

"Go figure." Drake said feeling like a complete moron. Topaz chuckled as they reached the top.

There was a long hallway with 5 doors on each side and a large, pearl white door with a gold colored door ring.

"These right here are the caretaker's quarters. It is absolutely imperative we keep them close to the young ones in case we are needed if for example one of the gets hurt." Her voice was still soft but she started to talk almost like a tour guide. They stopped just in front of the white door. "And this is where the little ones stay." She opened the door and motioned him in. walking in, he gazed around at the entire room and all in it. There were around 20 or so hatchlings and some were playing with 1 of 3 other caretakers. The hatchling he was holding looked at its new world it was born in, wonder filling its eyes. He sat it down but it just stood there motionless. He scooted it forward, encouraging the little hatchling to play with the other hatchlings. It slowly started to walk towards the others shyly but soon was right at home when he instantly started to make friends. The caretakers finally noticed Drake and went over to him.

"Who's this?" The blue one asked. Strangely enough they were all female but Drake was assuming there were male caretakers around.

"This is Drake." Topaz introduced. "Drake, this is Frost. She is one of the 9 other caretakers."

"Nice to meet you Frost." Drake kissed her on both cheeks. She handled it better than most people did.

"Well, aren't you a charmer." Frost noted observantly. Topaz pointed to a white and a light-red dragon.

"And this is Aero and Sear." Drake repeated his greeting as he did to Frost. They both handled it the same way as Frost because they knew it was a cultural greeting.

"Come, I think the young ones will take a liking to you." Topaz said. Drake walked next to her, she soon pointed to a spot on the floor which Drake sat at. "Everyone, we have a new guest with us." All the young ones turned their attention towards Topaz. "Please welcome our new guest Drake." She presented Drake to them in which they all stared at him. Topaz turned her back and smirked. "Go play." Was all she said and they instantly started charging at him in a mob.

"Oh god!" Drake yelled.

Just as he started to run away from them, a few jumped onto his legs and tripped him. They all started to jump on him like he was some sort of jungle gym. They were all walking on him, clawing at him, biting his fingers, biting his nose, or climbing on him. Drake started laughing at how adorable they were, but pain slowly crept up on him as each second ticked by.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!" Drake said laughing and partially crying just under speaking level.

One of the little started to climb on his face to his head. It managed to climb halfway and managed to hold itself up by the top of his head. However it found itself stuck; so it started kicking to help itself climb up. Its claws were scratching just below his eyes. It finally managed to climb onto his head but then it just lied down from all the effort it put into climbing. There were a bunch of scratches under his eyes from where the claws were scratching him which stung like a horrible sunburn. Then, another one ran up to his right and started biting and tugging on his ear. His eyes slammed shut and his teeth clenched tight just to keep from screaming while Cynder and the others sat there laughing at his predicament.

"Haha very funny, I'd like to see you put up with this!" He said through his teeth, peeking with one eye.

"Alright little ones that's enough." Frost said still laughing a little.

They all froze a moment. Then they finally got off him allowing Drake to stand. He rubbed the back of his neck because of all the little dragons that stepped on it. He then cracked his neck and knuckles. His back, face, neck, nose, fingers, and right ear all stung from the biting, scratching, and playing that went on.

"The little ones seem to like you Drake." Aero pointed out. "Have you ever looked after children before?"

"A few times, yes. I'm gentle when it comes to kids." Drake admitted. He looked over at the group of little dragons to see them looking at him eagerly and hopefully.

"Why don't you stay for a while?" Sear suggested. "They seem to enjoy having you around." She said looking at the group of children. Drake looked over at Cynder who shrugged.

"I guess I could stay for an hour or 2." As soon as he said that they all crowded around him.

He went over to a corner with all the young ones following him and sat. For the next 2 hours he played with each individual child and observed between how they communicated. They could understand what he said but they didn't understand bigger and more complicated words. Unfortunately for the young ones he had to leave. Just as he stood he heard them huff in disappointment.

"Ok everyone say bye to Drake." Topaz said. Just then he heard little roars which he thought was adorable. They headed straight home to no one there.

"Where is everyone?" Drake said aloud as he looked in different rooms. Suddenly, there was a loud THUMP that traveled throughout the house.

"I know where they are." Cynder said knowing only one place where that thump could've come from. "They're in the sparring room." Drake's head poke around the corner.

"You have a sparring room!" He said in surprise.

"Yeah, follow us and we'll show you." Ember said.

Drake followed them to a door that led them down a few stairs into a huge room that had weapons on walls and on weapon racks. There were also shields and pieces of armor that fitted dragons and a few other creatures. He walked in just in time to see Spyro pin Flame against a wall.

"You ready to give up?" Spyro offered

"Fine you win." Flame said begrudgingly. Spyro finally let him go.

"What's the score Volteer?" Spyro asked.

"Let's see, that's 3 for Flame and 5 for Spyro. You know back when I was your age Spyro I was one of the best fight-"He was interrupted by a slap to the back of the head from Cyril.

"I swear Volteer one day your own mouth is going to get tired of your insipid babbling and jump right off your face and run off." Cyril jeered. Just the thought of it made Cyril smile.

"Oh very funny Cyril; you're just jealous because I'm a better fighter than you. That and I am an overall more intelligent dragon than you will ever be!" Volteer mocked.

"Alright you 2 that's enough bickering between the both of you. " Ignitus intervened. "Can't you 2 go for one day without arguing?"

"Pfft. That's doubtful." Terrador said rolling his eyes.

"You're not helping Terrador." Ignitus said shooting a glare at him. Out of the corner of his eye Ignitus noticed Drake and the others walk in. "Ah welcome back! You 3 were gone longer than I expected." He looked at Tesla. "Tesla, I haven't seen you in a while. How are you and your family doing?"

"They're doing fine. Thank you for asking." She said.

"So what kept you 3 so long?"

"Sorry Ignitus, we were over in the park sparring when we saw Tesla and Drake found an egg. We took it over to the hatchery and planned on leaving within a few minutes but the hatchlings wanted to play with Drake." Cynder explained in perfect detail.

"Oh?" Ignitus looked over at Drake. "And how was it? Were they too rough on you?" Ignitus asked with a smile. He knew exactly how the caretakers liked to mess with new visitors when they introduced them to the hatchlings by letting them 'play' with them.

"To be honest…" Drake thought for a moment. "It wasn't that bad but it did leave me feeling sore over my entire body." He said reliving the pain of it. Ignitus laughed.

"That's the caretakers for you."

"Hey Drake why don't you spar with us?" Hunter offered.

"NO!" Drake was quick with his answer. "I mean uh, no thanks. I already got my butt kicked earlier today by Cynder, so I think I'm fine for now." Cynder smiled.

"Wow Cynder, that's cold. I can't believe you'd beat up on him like." Spyro said shaking his head.

"I didn't. He's actually pretty good. He just wasn't really aware of the rules. And…" Cynder added an afterthought."He hasn't fought a dragon before; he's use to fighting people who walk on 2 feet. So he'd probably do better against Hunter." Drake was somewhat surprised Cynder was taking his side.

"Is that ok if I spectate?" Drake asked.

"That'd be fine." Ignitus said.

Drake watched a few matches for a while. It soon started to get dark out; marking the end of spring break.

"It's starting to get dark out; I better head home. See you tomorrow at school." She said as she left.

"See you later Tesla." Cynder said just before she left.

"She's right young ones, it is getting late. Off to bed now, you've got school in the morning." Ignitus said.

They all headed up stairs and got into their beds. Everyone felt indifferent about going back to school while Drake was nervous about being the new kid. What if no one liked him? What if he was hated by everyone?

"So Drake, are you excited to come to our school tomorrow?" Spyro asked lying in his bed.

"I'm not really sure. I mean I kind of am but at the same time I'm not too excited about being the new kid. Especially since I'm in a world that I never even knew existed." Drake started thinking about how it was all going to play out in the long run.

"Don't worry Drake; you've got us around with you. You'll be in the same classes as us. There really shouldn't be anything you need to worry about." Cynder reassured.

"I guess you're right. After all it can't be that bad to be in a school that has dragons in it." Drake felt a little relieved that he would at least have all the same classes as them. Soon enough they drifted off to sleep for what was sure to be an interesting day.

A/N: Cynder, Ember, and Tesla think Drake is cute? That's a strange twist. But don't worry, you'll find out what happens later on in the story. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. I really got to thinking on future events that would happen in the story and how I could reveal Drake's inner self through encounters of certain situations. Like when Drake found that egg. I used that to reveal his soft spot in his heart towards innocent children. It may seem irrelevant to the story but trust me; this is tied into the major plot. Especially when summer vacation comes around, that's where it really gets juicy.

Extended Summary: But there's a secret to Drake. A secret not even he knew himself. A secret that is discovered when he becomes a slave to a dark tyrant. A secret that could spell the end for the entire world. But, even when he is the only one of his kind, he adapts to the new society he lives in and manages to find love; love that is forbidden back in his home world.


	7. The New Kid

Chapter 7: The New Kid

"Hey Drake, time to get up, we have school today." Spyro whispered shaking him slightly. Drake started to stir and groan as Spyro tried to wake him. "Come on Drake get up." He said a little louder and shaking him more. Cynder moved Spyro aside.

"Come on Drake we have to go to school." She said softly as she nudged him. Drake started to mumble in his sleep.

"Aw come on mom I hate school; can't I just switch to ECOT or something?" Cynder had a confused look while everyone else was quietly dying in fits of raspy laughter. She rolled her eyes and slid her forelegs under him.

"Just 5 more min- OH MY GOD!" He screamed just before falling on his stomach. He clambered up his bed, holding himself up while still lying on the floor. He glared at Cynder. "What the hell was that for!" He shouted. He was a little irritated from being flipped out of bed.

"Sorry but you wouldn't wake up. It was the only way I could wake you in time for school." Cynder apologized. Drake realized he did have to go to school in Warfang with Cynder and the others.

"Oh that's right. So is there anything that I need to bring?"

"Just take everything with you. You'll probably need them." Hunter answered.

"Wait, even my weapons!"

"Of course, how else would we learn?"

"Why the hell would they allow weapons in your school! In the school I used to go to, you'd get expelled just for bringing a toy weapon!" Drake liked the idea of bringing weapons to school but still, after going to schools that didn't allow them it would make anyone wonder why the hell they would allow them in the first place.

"Well, what did you learn back at your school?"

"Hey we got to get ready, Drake you can tell us on the way there." Flame interrupted.

The others waited for him outside while he and Hunter got changed (turned away from each other of course). Drake slipped into his Fight Magazine t-shirt and jeans that were torn at the knees and his boots, pulling the pant legs over them. Hunter dressed in his favorite outfit (think of what he was wearing in DOTD). Drake slung his weapons over his shoulders and put his 1911, hatchet, and knife in their holsters and sheaths and rolled his Kawasaki with him.

"Anyway, so what was it you learned back at your school?" Hunter asked.

"Well, algebra first and foremost, biology, health, art, engineering, construction, there was so much I had to learn back at my school." Drake recalled.

"Algebra? What's that?"

"It's basically math but so much more complicated. No ever actually uses it willingly, and even when they use it unknowingly they just find a way to turn it into basic math. I'll have to show you some time." Drake reached in his bag and grabbed a Monster and cracked it open. Everyone looked over when they heard a click.

"What's that?" Cynder asked staring at it.

"It's an energy drink; they're really big where I come from." He said just before taking a sip. She looked closer at it.

"Monster? It doesn't look scary to me." She said looking at the details.

"It's not supposed to be, it's just a name. If you want you can try it." He poured some into everyone's mouth and let Hunter drink from the can. They all shook their heads from the sudden rush of flavor and energy.

"Wow that's amazing! It tastes kinda like oranges!" Ember said smacking her lips.

"Well it is orange flavored for a reason." Drake said drinking the rest. He crushed the can and pitched it into a trash cart.

The rest of the way there was just idle chitchat about if Drake was excited about the new school. There was the constant clank of the guns slung across his back which he liked. Soon enough they came to a huge multi story building that said 'TALONWING HIGH SCHOOL' in big bold letters. They all sat on the ledge of the fountain as more and more students started showing up, Drake looked around to see most were dragons. There were a number of gryphons, wolves, cheetahs and gators but not nearly as many as there were dragons. There were a few others but they were just in small groups which he noticed tended to stay together. What he also noticed was that everyone that walked on 2 legs wore similar clothing to Hunter; although some wore stuff like armor that was in fragments and pieces that were on different parts of the body. Then the entire courtyard fell silent. They all started staring and whispering; to which Drake instantly realized they were all focused towards him. He could hear them whisper stuff like "Who's the new kid?" or "What's he suppose to be because I've never seen a creature like that." It was really awkward to have the entire school looking at you and wondering what you were for Drake. The whispering stopped when a large red dragon landed and directed everyone into the building. Thankfully part of the stairs was made into a ramp, which would have been frustrating getting his Kawasaki up the stairs. The inside of the school was similar to any other high school; the floors, walls, everything really except there were no lockers and the lights were crystals.

"So where do we go?" Drake asked.

"Just stick with us, we'll show you around." Spyro said. They walked straight the entire time and ended up outside again, this time in a large field that was behind the school. "This is breath and range training; we use it to keep our skills sharp with breaths and ranged weapons like bows." Flame said. Drake looked up to see a large green dragon flying around the field.

"Who's that?" Drake pointed.

"That's our teacher. He's pretty cool as long as you don't piss him off."

Drake heard the doors behind him open and turned around to see a bunch of students walk through them and gather where Drake and the others were. Soon enough the dragon took notice and landed right in front of them. He was just about to speak when he noticed Drake.

"Ah, I see we have a new student among us." He took a few steps closer to Drake. "What is your name young one?" His voice was similar to Terrador's but slightly less deep.

"Drake, my name is Drake sir." He said kind of timidly. The teacher chuckled.

"No need to be intimidated Drake, there's nothing to be intimidated about. Anyway, my name Fault; I'm the teacher for breaths and ranging abilities." Fault turned to the rest of the class. "Does anyone remember where we left off before spring break?"

"I believe we left off with using or abilities while moving." A random student said.

"Ah yes." He stomped his paw on the ground and instantly 4 clay dummies sprouted from the ground and stood motionless. "They key to scoring a successful strike while moving is to keep your eyes focused on ONE combatant at all times, not looking at every single one that poses a threat to you, just one at a time." Fault emphasized. "Now then, who would like to go first?" Everyone's hand shot up, all accept for Drake who just looked left and right moving only his eyes. Sunder smirked at Drake. "Why don't we let our new classmate go first?" Drake groaned and set his Kawasaki on its kickstand. He sat his guns slung over his back on the grass and drew his 1911. "Whenever you're ready." Fault said as him and the class watched.

Drake slowed his breathing as he cocked his 1911. Then he ran straight at the first dummy and aimed down the sights as he did. He placed 2 rounds in the center mass. That sounds of the shots made everyone jump at how loud his Colt was. He continued to the next, slowing not even in the slightest. When he passed the first dummy, it fell to the ground and turned into a pile of dust. He placed another 2 rounds in the next 2 dummies and finished the last with a clean head shot. He twirled his Colt around his finger, blew on the smoking barrel, and dropped it into its holster. Sunder came up and slapped him on the back.

"Well done Drake." Fault congratulated.

The remainder of the class time was some lecturing and exercises on a few techniques. To Drake's astonishment, Sunder somehow knew when to dismiss them to their next class. They all headed back inside and went into a giant room that had an obstacle course around the perimeter and a ring on the inside. On the left side there were racks of weapons and armor made for every creature you could think of. There were already 2 dragons there, red and yellow, that were the teachers that instantly took notice to Drake and the others since they were were the first ones there.

"Ah, Spyro and friends, how was your spring break?" The red dragon spoke in a friendly voice.

"It was… Interesting on my part. For everyone else I'm not really sure." Spyro answered.

"For me…" Cynder looked over at Drake then back at the 2 dragons in front of them. "I thought it was a pretty nice break. And when I say that, I think I speak on everyone else's behalf." The 2 dragons looked over at Drake.

"You must be new here." The yellow one said. "What's your name young one?" Drake wondered why everyone referred to him as 'young one.'

"I'm Drake." He introduced.

"It's nice to meet you Drake." The yellow dragon greeted warmly. "I'm Mach, and this is my colleague Vesuvius. We teach agility and combat here at TalonWing." And soon enough, the entire class came in, and there just so happened to be a familiar face among them.

"Drake?" Someone called. He looked behind him to see Tesla in front of everyone. "I didn't know you had this class." She was pretty surprised yet happy he was in her class.

"Yeah, I have all the same classes as Cynder and the others." He said and turned back to Mach and Vesuvius who were about to start class. Tesla stood next to Drake and looked at him out of the corner of her eye every minute or 2 while Mach was talking and Drake stood there with crossed arms listening.

"Alright class, it's time to pick up where we left off before spring break." Vesuvius said. He had the typical voice of a young adult as well as Mach. "We left off with defensive combat if I remember correctly." He juggled his thoughts for a moment. "Now, the purpose of defensive combat is to remain on the defensive and wear your opponent down, then making a strike when they are left vulnerable. This however can be difficult to spot, especially when facing a worthy adversary. Watch how Mach and I fight."

The class watched as they fought. Vesuvius would constantly swipe at Mach, alternating between standing on his hind legs and just staying on all 4, and occasionally swing his tail or crack it like whip at him. On his last few attacks, he left an opening for Mach who lunged at Vesuvius with 2 paws going for a double swipe. He stopped himself just short of landing a perfect kill slice to the throat.

"And that class is defensive combat. Now, let's have a few volunteers come up."

He randomly chose 2 students; one of which was Hunter. The other was a Siberian husky with a hood similar to Hunter's. They both took a staff from one of the weapons racks and got into a fighting stance in the center of the room. On Vesuvius' mark, they began the fight. Hunter was on the defensive, albeit not very effectively on his part. Mach immediately noticed his problem and pointed it out to him.

"Is it difficult being on the defensive Hunter?" He called out to him.

"Yeah, it's pretty hard playing defense for me." He called back still blocking the oncoming attacks.

"The problem is Hunter, your balance and your stance. Bring your right foot back slightly and shift your weight between the 2. That should make it a little easier."As Hunter adjusted his stance, he received a sweep to the legs, causing him to fall on his side. He pulled himself up using the staff as support. "Next time Hunter-" Mach said as Hunter and his opponent put their staffs back on the rack. "Pay attention while you adjust yourself."

He turned to the class and selected more participants for the rest of the class. Thankfully, Drake wasn't picked to spar. They were dismissed as soon as the last match ended, perfectly timed just as the rest of the school was dismissed.

A/N: Sorry it took longer to upload this chapter than excepted, I've just been swamped with so much homework I've had barely any time for story writing. Since I obviously can't keep the chapter per week promise, I'll have to shorten the chapters to at least try to get back on schedule. Also I'll try to go back to writing rough drafts which could delay chapter uploads but it also gives a possibility to more than one chapter being uploaded per week. I just want to say thank you for all the reviews I've gotten that have inspired me to keep uploading. It really makes my day to see that people actually enjoy reading my story. Keep the reviews coming!

Yours Truly,

DragonReaper 1-6


	8. Confrontation

Chapter 8: Confrontation

A/N: Behold! Chapter 8! Sadly I have some bad news: What I was gonna try to do was draw Drake and post it on deviant art just so you could get a feel for exactly how he looks and how his appearance changes throughout the story and a few scenes from the story as well, but my art work isn't very desirable. I mean I once did draw my hand clutching dog tags which I did extremely well on, but my overall art skills are ok. And sadly, I highly doubt anyone would be willing to draw Drake how I describe him. But if there was someone that was willing enough, you have no idea how grateful I would be, for sure I would be mention them in all my chapters and sending them to their stories and such. However, I'll at least try to do this on my own but don't hold your breath. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!

Their next class to Drake's astonishment was an art class. It was a large room that had cabinets full of clay blocks and tables with bits of dried up clay on them. There were canvases scattered around the room, piles of blank sheets of paper waiting for some aspiring artist to lay the foundations for their hopes and dreams, and boxes full of art supplies. They walked in to see a white dragoness, who was apparently the teacher, observing the artwork from her previous classes. She looked over and immediately looked at the unfamiliar face in the group.

"I'm Drake." He said just as she opened her mouth to ask who he was.

"I see you beat me to it. Well then, I'm Tempest." She greeted warmly. "So what brings you here Drake?"

"Well since I live with Spyro and the others, I now go to school here." Drake said sitting in a low riding chair.

"Well it's certainly nice to have a new student here."

The rest of the class entered in one big wave. They immediately sat in different chairs and stools and turned their attention to the front of the class where Tempest was already standing. Spyro and the others took their seats next to Drake. Unlike everyone that wasn't a dragon or a gryphon, when they actually sat in their seats, they sat completely in their seats, nothing but their tails hung from their seats.

"How was everyone's spring break?" She asked the class. A few people answered with "good" or "fun" in the usual groggy tone you hear in any other classroom. "Art, as I'm sure you've all heard me say time and time again, is how we as dragons, as all creatures for that matter, express our every emotion, whether it be anything from happiness and excitement, to anger and sorrow. I can take forms such as the simple drawing and painting to more complex and physical expressions such as courtship and singing."

As she kept lecturing, Drake heard someone clear their throat and looked over to his right to see a female wolf smiling and looking at him. When she realized he was looking at her, she giggled and turned back to Tempest who was talking.

"Huh." Drake thought. "Wonder what that was for. Ah well, don't really matter." Drake turned back to Tempest who had just finished lecturing.

"Ok now that that's out of the way, I need 2 people to come up here; any volunteers?" Most of the class raised their hand or paw, including Drake, Spyro, Cynder, and Flame. "How about…" Tempest scanned the room. "Drake and-" She paused "Cynder. Would you 2 please come up here and take a seat in front of this canvas?" They did as she asked and took their seats where she asked them to. "Could you Drake scoot a little closer to Cynder?"

"Sure thing teach." He said scooting closer to Cynder.

As he did, Cynder started to get a nervous and used every muscle in her body to keep from showing it. When Drake stopped moving and got back into his seat, they were almost leaning on each other. Tempest sat behind the canvas and covered it with a large sheet of paper. She then put a pencil between the first and second toe of her paw and began drawing. Drake and Cynder sat motionless for what seemed ages. Thankfully after god knows how long, Tempest dismissed the class to lunch and told them to come back afterwards while she worked on the finishing touches. When they got to the cafeteria, they just sat at random table and waited to get in line. The cafeteria was full of chatter from people telling stories of whatever came to mind, whether it be something funny or a test someone failed.

"So Drake how is it here?" Flame asked.

"It's actually pretty fun. I hated school back at my home, all we did was sit in these little desks and do work all the time. At least here you actually get to do fun stuff. I mean there were a few classes I thought were fun but most of the time it were just so boring."

"Wow, I'd hate to go to your school."

"Yeah, you and me both."

They all started laughing. Eventually the line shortened and they got up except for Drake who was holding the table. While he waited, he put on his headphones and played Same Old Song and Dance by Aerosmith. About halfway through the song they came back with Hunter holding a bunch of bags with food in them and a tray which was his food. Drake then went up and waited in line which was already fairly short. He was given a tray with a decent amount of food on it. He never paid attention what was on his tray so he just walked out as soon as he got his food. Right as he came back into the cafeteria and looked down at his food, his tray was slapped right out of his hands; his hands were even oriented as though he was still holding the tray. The entire cafeteria fell silent and instantly looked over at them. He felt thousands of eyes bearing down on him as though he was in a talent show. He looked up from where his tray was just a moment ago and saw a wolf taller than he was standing right in front of him with 2 others right behind him who were a little less tall. His hands came down to his sides just as he started growling at him.

"Who do you think you are!" He snarled.

Drake just looked at him. His eyes crept back and forth at everyone that was staring at him. He was still trying to wrap his mind around what just happened. He raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… I'm pretty sure I'm Drake." He said in a slightly confused voice.

"I don't care who you are or where you're from, but you have no idea what you've just gotten yourself into!"

"You're right… What did I get myself into exactly?" Drake questioned crossing his arms.

"You know damn right what you did!" He screamed in his face.

"Not exactly." Drake said plainly, completely unfazed from the screaming.

"If you pull any more of this shit again, you better believe I'll be after you!"

"Yeah sure you will." Drake mocked rolling his eyes. The wolf started to get even more infuriated than he already was.

"You don't think I will! You don't think I'll make good on my word!" Drake completely ignored the threat.

"Oh no!" Drake mocked even further. "Someone help! He's gonna hump my leg!" Drake burst into laughter. The wolf was at his boiling point. His teeth where clenched and fists balled up, ready to take Drake on.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING! FUCK UP AGAIN AND I'LL KNOCK YOUR ASS OUT INTO A COMA!" Drake stopped laughing a lowered his smile to a straight face.

"I'm not sure if you realized this but I'm pretty sure that threat is something people get neutered for." Drake said. "Anyway, see ya fucker!" He said out loud, flipping the bird in his face. When the wolf and his pack stormed off, Drake sat back at the table.

"Here, you can have my lunch." Cynder scooted her food towards him.

"Nah it's all good, you eat." He scooted her food back. He saw the same wolf staring at him a few tables down out the corner of his eye and turned to him. "What the fuck you lookin' at!" He shouted, the entire cafeteria staring at him again. The wolf turned back to his food. The chatter soon picked back up again. "Who's he?"

"That's Fang." Hunter said looking in the upper right corner of his eye.

"He's one of those popular crowd pricks. All of us absolutely hate him." Flame said, everyone else nodding in agreement.

"So what's his deal? All I'm doing is just going through the lunch line and as soon as I get out BAM! He slaps my try out of my hands and starts screaming like a banshee about something I had no idea I did."

"He felt his presence was threatened." Cynder said.

"Threatened? Why would his presence be threatened?"

"His presence was threatened because he felt you were trying to steal his mate."

"What the hell!" If he had any food in his mouth he would have spat it out. "Steal his mate! Why would I be in a relationship with someone of another species?"

"Why what's wrong with that?" Cynder asked. Everyone was stunned at his questioning. "It's completely natural here for a couple to be in an inter-species relationship."

"Yeah." Ember chimed in. "I once was in a relationship with an armadillo named Bandit."

"And I was in a relationship with a gryphon." Flame said.

"And I was in one with a wolf." Hunter said.

"Well it's just that in the society I was raised in, it was forbidden to form a relationship with someone outside of your species. In fact, it still is." For a few minutes everyone went back to eating until Cynder asked Drake a question.

"What does neuter mean?" She asked looking up at him.

"Neuter?" Drake's eyes widened. "Do you really want to know?" Cynder nodded. Drake covered his mouth and whispered into a patch of scales behind her horn. When he pulled away, her dropped open in horror.

"Nuh uh." She denied. Drake nodded.

"Why would they do that!"

"They do it because… Well… I'd rather not say. It just makes it a whole lot worse."

"What did he say?" Spyro asked. Cynder whispered to him.

"Oh my god!"

"Yeah, it's that bad." Drake nodded.

When Flame asked he told the whole table, and everyone had the same reaction; the men being worst of all. After the rest of lunch, which was filled with the images that were conjured up by Drake, they all headed back to art with the horrible images forever burned into brains that could never be unseen.

A/N: Sorry for the delayed update. I had tons of homework and stuff that all I literally could do was think of what would happen in the chapter. Don't worry everyone, I'll still be writing and hopefully rough drafting as well. Also, I'm having a writer's block so the next chapter will take a while to upload so just hang in there and be patient. Also if you have any ideas please, don't be afraid to suggest them, I'll happily take whatever suggestions you have and take them into consideration. I'll even mention you and give you credit for it in the chapter if I use your idea. Thanks for all your support. And remember… Keep those reviews coming!

-DragonReaper 1-6


	9. Shrouded Roots

Chapter 9: Shrouded Roots

A/N: Hope you like the chapter, I kinda got into a rhythm around the middle when I was listening to Moto Psycho by Megadeth (Try listening to it sometime). No joke, I was jammin' out while typing this because I was so pumped about school being nearly over… At least where I live, we get out on May 24, and I know it's different for everyone, so for the people that get out when I do I'm gonna go full throttle on the next chapter as a way of saying thank you to all my fans out there. So over the weekend I'm gonna pull an all nighter (or 2) to ensure that I get this next chapter out when I get out of school. Also, it occurred to me to mention there are some grammar and spelling errors that I put there on purpose EX: Kinda, wanna, till, gonna… But it is mainly spelling. And also, I have some good news, some bad news, and some awesome news. Bad news: I'm going to Spain for about month, I'll be leaving either June 7 or 8 and won't be back until about July 5 if I remember correctly so updates will cease within that timeframe. Good news: I'll still be thinking of ideas for new chapters or even new stories. Awesome news: Drake's Legacy will have 3 parts to it! I made this decision when I thought of how book 2 will go so you can expect a good plot coming from the next book. One last thing, I re-read the chapter and fixed one or two errors that for some reason appeared when i published the chapter. As always... Reviews and constructive criticism are accepted and encouraged :)

They went back to the art room just as they were told, arriving before anyone else as usual. Everyone took their seats except for Drake and Cynder who walked up to the teacher who was examining the picture.

"How did I do?" Tempest asked them.

The picture was half of Drake's and Cynder's face fused together, hers being on the left and Drake's on the right, split down the middle both with a straight face. It looked exactly like them, from their eyes to their nose and even their necks. Drake's favorite part about it even though he liked all of it, was how it there were only Cynder's 3 horns and no horns on him. Cynder's favorite was how it went from Cynder's dragon eye to Drake's eye.

"It looks exactly like us!" Cynder said joyfully.

"It does!" Drake said in astonishment. "I love the artwork Tempest, it's truly amazing."

"Aw, thank you both for those kind words. I must say, you 2 make a great pair."

"Is that ok if we take it?" Cynder asked.

"You can keep it if you'd like." She offered.

Drake folded the paper and put it in his pocket just as everyone came back from lunch. Just then Tempest dismissed them to their last class which was Speed and Maneuverability. Upon arriving at said class, first as usual, they ended up going outside into another large, open area. There 2 dragons, yellow and blue, idly discussing what to start off with when the class arrived. They turned to see the first class members, instantly recognizing Drake.

"So you must be the new student Drake." The yellow dragon stated

"How did you know my name?" Drake asked confusedly.

"We heard other teachers talking about a new student named Drake; and when we were the only face we haven't seen yet we instantly knew it was you." The blue dragon answered in place of the yellow dragon.

"I'm Kilowatt-"

"And I'm Tundra." They introduced. "We teach Speed and Maneuverability." Tundra said pointing to whom mainly taught what."We both teach the same stuff, but it's just more like the teacher and assistant teach sort of spiel."

"Eh, that's fine with me; I'm use to that back at my school."

"I see." Tundra notice Drake's dirt bike which was alien in nature to him. "What's that you got there?"

He asked getting a closer look at it.

"It's a dirt bike. Back at my home people used these for doing tricks and just plain racing. They're really fun in my opinion."

Kilowatt suddenly had an idea just as the rest of the class came. When Drake looked behind him, he noticed that he shared the same classes with that wolf girl from art and sadly, Fang. For some strange reason, he never noticed it before.

"Is this everyone?" Tundra counted the students. "It appears we have everyone here… Good, now we can get on with class." Tundra cleared his throat. White steam emitted from his nostrils like the breath on a crisp, cold winters day. "Some of the best dragons in history wouldn't be where they were without speed and maneuverability. In fact, if you can out fly and out maneuver your enemy, you can defeat them without even having to put up a decent fight." Kilowatt walked next to Drake and turned his back to the class.

"Absolutely Tundra, well put, well put indeed. And to show the class how important it is, how about we let Drake here show the class how it's done." He said slapping Drake on the back upon saying his name. He looked up at Kilowatt and groaned as he removed the bags from his Kawasaki and put everything he was carrying down. He looked up at Kilowatt. "Whenever you're ready you may start." He said getting his wings stretched for flight.

"Before I start," He looked over at Tundra "Do you think you could make a few ramps and obstacles?" An intrigued smile crept along Tundra's face.

"I'll see what I can do." He said just before taking off leaving an icy wind in his wake. He flew circles around the field, blasting ice into ramps and spires, ice patches, and a few low hanging ice bridges/elevated paths. As he flew longer, he started to have clever ideas for obstacles like a series of tiny bumps and hills, ice fields so he'd be swerving between hundreds of small blocks of ice, and a huge crater lined with ice. "How's that?" He asked landing next to Drake.

"Perfect." He said with an invisible grin under his helmet.

He nodded his head, flicking his visor down and kick started his Kawasaki, making everyone jump. He revved the engine to the point where it could've been mistaken for a dragon's roar. Everyone covered their ears from the deafening roar; all accept Drake and the teachers. He kicked it into gear and went full throttle, bucking the front right up into a perfect wheelie. He left the teachers in a cloud of shredded grass and black, fertile dirt. They took off without a second to spare, leaving a small shockwave of dust and icy wind behind them. They observed Drake, flying only a few feet above his head as they watched him expertly drift around turns, foot scarping the earth beneath him and swerve between ice spires and blocks. Tundra shot an ice stream at him, only to miss as Drake took a sharp drift right, straight at the ice bumps. He stood on the stands as just before entering the field, his Kawasaki bobbing up and down from beneath him while he remained virtually still, hardly being moved by each and every bump. Tundra shot a shower of icicles down on him. There were hundreds of sharp pops that sounded like M-80s going off only a few feet behind him. He came up on a low platform and whipped the tail of his Kawasaki over to the right and leaned left, sliding under the platform without skipping a beat. Just as he brought himself back up, he instantly sunk down into the crater. When he reached the bottom, he instantly shot right back up the other side but didn't have enough speed and slid back down. As he slid back and forth, he realized there was no way to get out by just going straight. He turned the handle slightly to the right and started to drift in that direction and gave a little throttle. As he started to circle the center, he then turned straight towards the center and gave it more throttle. He was soon drifting around the center sideways, slowly creeping up the crater walls. Both Tundra and Kilowatt were impressed with his resourcefulness. They thought it would've taken him a little longer to figure out but it was apparent to them he was more clever than he appeared. When Drake peaked out of the crater he sped right back to the group at near full throttle. At the last possible second, he drifted left and threw a pound of dirt right into Fang's face. That really made his day to see the look on his face. He looked so infuriated you could probably crack an egg on his head and cook it. His entire body started to vibrate as he clenched his teeth and snarled. He did a few donuts; leaving black circles etched in the earth and rode back to the group.

"Get use to the taste, Dirt Breath." He whispered hatefully as he slowly passed Fang. He shot a piercing glare at Drake, growling as he looked him in his black, eye concealing, visor. Drake stopped next to Spyro and took off his helmet with the engine still running.

"Impressive Drake, you really surprised me by how quick you figured a way out of the crater, well done." Kilowatt congratulated. "And maybe some other time you can show us some of those tricks you were talking about." The rest of class was demonstrations of different techniques on maneuvers. Soon enough, Drake's first school day was over and they all started heading home talking about their day.

"Holy shit!" Drake said in a raspy laugh. "Did you see the look on his face? Priceless I tell you, he looked like he was 2 seconds from going off like a bomb!" Everyone started laughing along with him as they kept talking about Fang.

"When you threw dirt in his face, I was sure he was about to slit your throat." Tesla said as she regained her composure.

"Pfft, please… If anything he would've been eating dirt before he could even think about slitting MY throat… Oh wait… HE DID HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Drake was laughing so hard he nearly doubled over in laughter.

"What was going through your mind that made you wanna do that?" Flame asked.

"Fuck if I know, I was probably still pissed off at him and wanted to get back at him for making me have to sit out lunch… When I was about to do it I had to be extremely careful not to hit the girl next to him. I didn't want to piss off another person, besides she was kinda nice to me, granted I haven't even actually met her and only saw her for what? 3 seconds?"

"What did she look like?" Spyro asked with an intrigued tone.

"I really don't remember. Again, I only saw here for like 3 seconds. She was staring at me and when I noticed she giggled and turned back to Tempest.

"Well, do you like her?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you all about. Maybe later though, the reason why is that it's gonna take awhile to explain fully because there's a lot of conflicting views on it and I don't want to have to keep repeating it to everyone, so I'm just gonna wait till everyone is around, like at the dinner table I guess."

"Sounds fair enough." Spyro turned to Tesla. "Hey Tesla, wanna join us for something to eat?"

Tesla thought for a moment. "Eh why not, I'd actually kinda like to hear where Drake comes from."

After walking a few blocks, along with a few cracks about Fang, they came to the house, eager to get something to eat. When they walked in, they were greeted by Cyril who was shifting through the house looking for something.

"Did you lose something?" Ember asked, concerned it might have been something extremely important.

"I seem to have lost my scales, have you seen them anywhere?" Drake had a peculiar look on his face.

"Uhhhh… Aren't those your scales right there?" He pointed. "You know, the one attached to you?"

"Oh my young lad, not these scales." He corrected looking in a few drawers. "The scales I'm talking about are what we use for currency. They look like the scales from that of a dragon but they come in 7 different colors: green, blue, red, bronze, silver, gold, and midnight black."

Drake and the others assisted Cyril in looking for the scales he was missing. 10 minutes of searching and they didn't find a single scale. Drake looked behind a cabinet in the living room and saw a glimmer of green and blue dance across the back of the cabinet. He tilted the cabinet forward slightly and reached out into the crevice. His finger tips grazed the object; it felt frigid and lifeless like the steel of a sword. He reached out as far as he could and managed to grab it. When he brought his and back he saw it was a bunch of strange shaped discs. They were somewhat smaller than the palm of his hand by about ½ an inch and were fairly shiny so they must have been somewhat new. They had a decent weight on them; the weight of all of them was about the weight of one of those glass things that you put on a turntable light and it has a bunch of bubbles in it that make a picture. He went up to Cyril who was looking under the living room chair.

"Are these it?" He asked holding them out. Cyril looked up at his hand with a smile.

"They sure are." He handed them to Cyril who then started to count them under his breath. "Let see… 8 blue and 6 green… Yep that's all of it." He said

"So how much is that?" Drake said looking at them.

"Well each color is worth a different amount; green is 1, blue is 5, red is 10, bronze is 20, silver is 50, gold is 100, and midnight black is 1,000. It basically goes in the same way as the value of precious metals."

"So that means you have-"Drake counted the scales. "46 scales."

"Yep, it's pretty easy to remember even though the values aren't on them." Cyril said putting the scales in a small bag around his neck. Drake pulled a dollar out of his pocket.

"This is what we use." Cyril looked at the dollar bill. "We also use small coins but I don't have any on me."

"Interesting, you use paper money. And would you look at that… it even has the value on it." Cyril headed to the door. "I'll be back, I'm going to the market to get some food, I'll be back in about half an hour or so." He said closing the door.

Drake put all his stuff in the bedroom, kicked of his boots, and lied down the couch, face buried in the cushion. His hand hung over the side, hovering just centimeters above the floor.

"Are you already tired?" Ember wondered, sitting next to him. Drake twisted his head out of the cushion.

"I'm just beat is all, like I said before, all we did back in my school was sit in desks all day for hours. It's just gonna take a little getting used to for me." Ember gently placed her paw on his back and scratched it. He let out a shuddering sigh.

"Ah, that feels nice." The corner of his mouth raised into a smile as his eyes closed and dozed off.

She continued scratching his back for a few more minutes until she heard a soft snore from Drake. She let out a yawn and climbed onto the other side of the couch behind Drake and quickly nodded off. She slept on her side kinda like how a dog does. Her tail curved in front of her where her stomach was under one of her forelegs. An hour later Ignitus and Terrador came into the living room and saw them sleeping on the couch. Ignitus smiled.

"Well, well, what's this?" Terrador looked over to see what Ignitus was seeing. They approached them to see them in a somewhat deep slumber.

"Should we wake them?" Terrador asked in an unsure tone.

"We probably should so they don't have a hard time sleeping tonight." They started nudging them with their snouts gently so not to startle them. Drake's eyes began to crack open. When they did they both stopped nudging them. "How was first day of school Drake?" Ignitus asked with a slight smile. Drake sat up and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Fine, it was fine." He said with a yawn.

"You seem tuckered out, everything alright?" Ignitus asked with a slight voice of concern.

"Yeah, everything's fine, I just need to get used to the school change." He said slouching into the couch.

"Ok, just wanted to make sure. Could you do us a favor and wake Ember? Cyril should be back any minute from the market."

"No problem."

"Thank you." Ignitus said walking out the door with Terrador, leaving the door slightly ajar. Drake got up and crouched down on his knees next to Ember.

"Hey Ember, time to get up, Cyril's gonna be back any minute with food." He said softly, gently shaking her. She started to stir but didn't wake up. Then, what seemed like out of nowhere, she reached up and grabbed his head and pulled him to her. The side of his face was held to her chest. Drake had an awkward stricken expression illuminated on his face which didn't do justice on the situation. And to Drake's astonishment, she was comfortably warm. Warm like that sensation you get when you drink hot chocolate after you've been outside in the snow for hours on end. "Thank god she doesn't have boobs; otherwise this would have been seriously awkward." He thought as he tried to escape from her hug. Then her tail came around and hugged his stomach gently which just complicated things even more. And soon enough, a loving smile came across her sleeping face. "Ember?" He said softly patting the shoulder of her foreleg. "Ember? Can you please let me go?" She started to hug slightly tighter. "Ugh, god dammit." He said under his breath. Finally Cyril and the others walked in, balancing those basket things you always see Asian crop farmers use at the joint of their back and base of their neck. "Uh, a little help here?" He called out pointing to himself. They looked over and immediately smiled, looking into one of the top corners of their eyes and shaking their head. They placed the baskets on the table next to Drake and just looked at him smugly.

"Having fun there Drake?" Cyril asked tauntingly.

"Oh ha-ha very funny." Drake commented sarcastically. "Now can you please help me out?" Drake asked becoming impatient. Cyril nudged Ember as Drake sat their stuck in Ember's arms. She finally started to wake up after repeated attempts.

"Hi Cyril." She said in the typical voice when you just wake up. "Back already?"

"Yes, and do you think you could do me one favor?"

"What is it?"

"Let go of me?" Drake answered.

She looked down and saw her hugging Drake. His eyes were rolled up looking at her since he couldn't move his head. She immediately let go and sat straight up in a flash.

"I'm so sorry Drake, I didn't mean to!" She apologized in an ashamed voice, looking away from him. Drake sat on the couch next to her and patted her on the back.

"Hey, there's nothing to be ashamed of." He spoke truthfully. "You can't control what you do in your sleep. Trust me, I should know. I talk in my sleep sometimes. Hell, once I even started sleep walking when I was little. I walked into my older sister's room, pulled out her dresser, and went back to sleep in it." Ember started to become less ashamed and smiled. "Believe me; this kind of stuff happens to everyone…" Drake looked around and whispered in her ear. "I bet even Ignitus has done it." She gave a quiet laugh, causing Drake to smile. "Now let's see that smile." He wrapped his arm around her to show he was there for her. She turned her face towards him, exposing her smile. It was a subtle, feel better smile that warmed the heart. "That's more like it." He said with a smile. He pulled her closer, giving her a side hug. "You feel better?" He asked softly, still with a smile. She nodded her head."Good, now let's get something to eat I'm starving."

Upon saying that, Spyro and the others came into the living room, thinking the exact same thing Drake was thinking. They all sat at the table, waiting eagerly for dinner to be ready. Within 20 minutes, Cyril and the others brought the food to the table. Just as everyone sat down and was about to take the first bite, it struck Drake, Volteer was missing.

"Where's Volteer?" Drake wondered curiously, setting his fork his plate.

"I knew we were forgetting someone." Ignitus realized.

"I must say I actually like having dinner without Volteer's constant rambling about whatever comes into that brain of his. We should do this more often." Cyril said with a smile, being completely serious.

"Really? I hadn't realized you felt that way about him." Ignitus said sarcastically.

"So where is Volteer?" Drake asked standing up.

"He's probably in the study over there." Ignitus said pointing to the door behind him.

"Christ, how big is this house! You have a study too? What else do you have, a dungeon!" The room became deathly silent. "No fucking way!" Suddenly they all burst into laughter. "My god, I thought you were serious there for a second!"

Drake opened the door and walked down a set of stairs into a huge circular room. It was well lit and had soft, red carpet which was really complimented by the lighting. There were book cases that covered the entire circumference of the room that went up to the ceiling. There were stacks of books scattered here and there was a podium at the opposite end of the room from Drake that had a huge open book on it. In the center of the study was Volteer, lying on his stomach on a darker red rug, flipping through pages the pages of a large book. Next to him were 2 stacks of books, the left was substantially taller than the right. He walked up next to Volteer cleared his throat.

"Hey Volteer, were all waiting for you to join us for dinner." He didn't seem to take heed to a single word he said, like he wasn't even there.

"Volteer?" He said a little louder, and yet still nothing. "Volteer!" He said even louder, finally getting his attention. If he hadn't he would have shouted.

"Oh sorry Drake, I didn't notice you there." He said still reading. "What can I do you for?" He said looking at him. Even lying on his stomach, he was still taller than Drake by about a foot.

"Well I just wanted to come and tell you dinner was ready." He said pointing behind him with his thumb.

"Oh no I'm fine, you go ahead and eat." Drake looked at the book curiously.

"What's that you're reading?"

"This young Drake is a book of all the creatures in the dragon realm that exist."

"Why are you reading it if you live in the dragon realm in the first place? I mean, shouldn't you already know of all the creatures that live here?"

"I do, at least I thought I did. You see, when you came here, I thought you were just some creature that wasn't from this valley. But I've been looking in this book to find out what you were since you didn't look familiar, but I have yet to find out what you are-"

"Why didn't you just ask me what I was?" Drake interrupted.

"The reason behind that is simple; I wanted to find out for myself. I assumed it would have been simple enough to just look in this book and compare your appearance with the books description of whatever creature you were. But as I now see, that isn't so. So I've continued to look through multiple books as you can see."

"So the pile on your right is the books you've already looked through, and the left is the books you have yet to look through?"

"Precisely." He said and turned back to the book.

Drake walked over to the left side of the study and examined the rows of books. They were neatly organized in alphabetical order without any sort of decimal system. He found himself looking in the 'D' section and walked further down until he reached what he was looking for. "Here we go, 'H'." He muttered to himself. He traced his finger along the books as he passed them, counting down the letters as he passed each one. When he got to 'HUM' he knew it was just a few books down. He didn't see anything he was looking for. He went back a little and started looking again, this time noticing a book all the way in the back, out of plain sight as if someone carelessly just tossed the book back there. He reached out and pulled the book from its resting place. It was covered in dust from the years it spent in solitary isolation. The book was about the size of a pack of printer paper but had a little less weight to it. He brought his hand across the entire the book, exposing the elegant gold, reflective title lettering. The elegant lettering was written in a classic cursive font, beautifully imprinted in the soft leather cover. He brought his finger tips across the title, feeling every letter. He read the title, feeling every word roll off his tongue as if it had its own emotion:

**The Human Genome.**

A/N: That's it for Shrouded Roots, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it… I would also like to take this time to thank a few people: Serenity in Virginia for being the first to put my story on their alert list (Read this persons story about this kid named Lucas, it's awesome), Solrac III for somehow being a f***ing mind reading genie! I swear this person guessed maybe 3-4 things I had planned for future chapters. And to all my readers and people that have been leaving amazing reviews. You all really make my day. As always… Read and Review! And remember: Don't run with scissors, wear your seatbelt, and always drink milk!

DragonReaper 1-6


	10. The Human Genome

Chapter 10: The Human Genome

A/N: Finally, after almost 2 weeks, Chapter 10 is up. I'd like to give a special thanks to Solrac III for helping me with the introduction of humans in the dragon realm. He's been a real big help so I thought this was the least he deserved. It has been an awesome 2 weeks though; I passed my OGTs so now I never have to take them again. I got an Accelerated in reading, Accelerated in writing (I laughed when I saw that and thought about my fanfic), Accelerated in math which frankly surprised me, Proficient in science (Yet I never score below an 80% on my tests and I always had an A), and an Advanced in S.S… I got my fillings today (My entire left side of my mouth was numb as fuck!) And when they were drilling I could smell burning teeth which was nasty. But I couldn't feel a thing which was alright with me. However I have sad news, on May 22, 2012, an 8th grader in the middle school across from my high school committed suicide, he only had 2 more days of school when he did. I never knew him but I was told he was one of those kids that was nice to everyone and always helped people whenever they needed it. And the reason why he committed suicide? He was bullied… Why? Because he was bald… Why was he bald? **BECAUSE HE HAD CANCER! **I mean this kids life probably already sucked when he found out he had cancer, and now he gets bullied so much he takes his own life! I just wish I could've stopped him. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Drake examined the edges of the pages; they were a slight yellowish tint, suggesting it was indeed an old book. The pages were also tattered slightly, albeit minutely at that. He opened the book and skimmed through the pages; the text was hand written in the same fashion as the title but without the gold highlights. Whoever wrote it apparently possessed an artist's creative eye and the finesse to write in such a way. He closed the book and brought it to Volteer who was still in a trance. He placed the book right in front of what Volteer was reading, bringing him back from the mesmerizing trance the text book withheld him in for so long. He looked at the book curiously and removed the text book under it.

"Strange, I don't recall having this book." He placed the text book in the pile of books he finished. He looked at the title, eyes widening slightly as he was left in complete astonishment. "So you're a… Human?" He managed to speak looking at Drake.

"Sure am." Drake said plainly, kneeling down next to him.

Volteer opened the book to the first page and began reading a small paragraph he figured to be an author's note: "Little is truly known about the creature known as the 'Human'. They are often found in legends, folklore, stories, and mythology, all depicting them in relatively similar manners but varying to certain degrees. Enough of these legends have been collected to provide accurate illustrations, characteristics, abilities, behaviors, and overall details on the being." An intrigued and intent expression came over Volteer's face as well as Drake's; after all he did want to see how accurate the description was: "It's not clear how the human came to be what it is today, but there have been a few theories. The biggest, most widely accepted theory was that humans were once allies with dragons during the time of our ancient ancestors. They were said to be the most powerful of allies, defeating their enemies with swift and decisive blows, raining death upon the ranks of those who dared oppose, and extinguishing even the biggest infernos of evil's will. Their arrival was sudden and mysterious, but they were extraordinarily peaceful upon meeting our ancestors. Our ancestors brought them into their city, the city of Firelance, in hopes of forever establishing a lasting friendship. As a token of gratitude for the kindness of our ancestors, they called themselves "Sociorum Draconum" (The Allies of Dragons). From then on they became the most noble of allies, marching into battle alongside their dragon brethren wherever they went. After a number of years and countless wars, the humans held a weeklong festival in honor of their alliance with the dragons. There was singing, dancing, music, food; it was full of life and spirit with everyone, humans and dragons, having the time of their lives. But, only weeks after the festival ended, the humans vanished without a single trace; No clothing… No weapons… Nothing."

The chapter left them in complete darkness, forcing Volteer to turn the page to learn more on humans:

"Appearance: Humans are a relatively small sized creature compared to dragons, most obtaining a height between 5'10 and 6'4 and a weight between 160-220 lbs at adulthood, males being larger. For adolescent humans between the ages of 11-19, it is roughly the same, although they tend to be slightly shorter. Human children, birth-10 is significantly shorter and lighter but have a less developed body structure. Humans seem to closely resemble today's apes in overall structure of the body except they are smaller, leaner, and faster. Humans are thought to come in 2 colors; white which has a tan tint and a dark brown color, it is not know which color is more common but the legends have only depicted white humans. Instead of having scales, they have a soft, smooth layer of flesh, which is an excellent defense against blunt strikes and is also excellent at repelling water. Humans only grow 2 sets of omnivorous teeth; one after birth and one just before or after the start of adolescence. Human males also grow hair mainly on their arms, legs, face, and head (females being all except for the face), but it is not thick enough to be considered a fur coat.

Characteristics, Abilities, and Behaviors: Humans are often depicted as righteous, holy beings, a pinnacle of hop in that sense. They are born naturally good, but can be corrupted, influenced, and swayed by means of physical, emotional, and sexual gratification. Some are even depicted as a dark being or even a master of darkness, a scourge of the world." Drake's eyebrow rose slightly as Volteer read on. "Humans are **EXTREMELY** intelligent, cunning, resourceful, and overall sapient creatures, capable of outsmarting even the most diligent minded dragons. They have a highly developed brain capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem solving. Their mental capacity is top notch, giving them other higher thought processes such as self-awareness, rationalization, and sapience, all defining qualities in what constitutes a 'human'. Humans are also heavily influenced by art such as music and literature and are highly philosophical. Unlike dragons, whose songs are happy and upbeat in nature, humans sing songs that are of any emotion and often have to do with exposing the truth behind something and have some sort of meaning behind them. Some of which can even be dark. Humans are not known to have a courtship ritual. Instead, the male kneels down on 1 knee before his love and presents a piece of jewelry, commonly a ring or necklace, in hopes of becoming mates for an eternity. Humans are an adaptive creature; they excel in adapting to unknown environments and situations whether it be cold weather or trapped in a forest. They adapt through ways such as developing their bodies to make survival more possible; if caught in a blizzard for example, the hair on their arms and legs will hug their body to keep heat from escaping. If cold enough, their body will sacrifice its limbs to keep the core warm by closing off blood vessels to the extremities. Humans extremely resistant to poison, venom, and disease, even more so than any other creature that exists in this world. They can withstand 10X the amount a dragon can. And for the poisons they don't have a resistance to; if they are exposed to small amounts enough times, they start to build up a resistance. Another adaption humans possess is seeing in darkness like all creatures. While they cannot see very well in darkness compared to dragons and most other creatures, their pupils dilate to let in as much light as possible, and within 20min they can see significantly better in the darkness, but still not as well as dragons. For their size, they are strong and agile, and possess remarkable combat skills. It is said they have developed their own fighting styles to gain the upper hand, even when outnumbered. They are experts in hand-to-hand combat and have mastery in all weapons. Their potency on the battlefield is superb, making quick work of any ground combatants, but are less advantageous against dragons and other creatures with the ability to fly. They still however seem to handle flying creatures better than any other ground based creature could. And when mounted on a flying creature, especially a dragon, they become an unstoppable, death dealing deuce. Humans are not known to possess powers like dragons, but it is said that a human's blood is 'a breath of its own,' being able to heal the wounded, the sick, and under extremely rare circumstances, the deceased. It is also said that an extremely select amount of humans possess blood that-"

Volteer looked over towards the next page, ecstatic to uncover the shroud over humans that has eluded dragons for so long, but to no avail.

"So what does it say?" Drake asked eagerly, leaning in to see for himself.

"I'm not sure." Volteer answered disappointingly. "There seems to be a page missing. And from the looks of it… It seems to have been torn out."

"Damn. And I was really looking forward to seeing what it said." Drake huffed.

"So how accurate was it?" Volteer asked flipping through the pages.

"It was pretty accurate to say the least. There was some stuff that was off or just plain wasn't true. The intelligence for one thing. Intelligent yes… Extremely intelligent not so much. The fast and agile thing, not really. But there are people, me being one of them, which are agile; but the vast majority aren't. The stuff I was doing when you and the others were chasing me is an example of agility." Drake's stomach started to rumble so loudly even Volteer could hear it. "Anyway, let's go eat. That is after all what I came down here for in the first place. Everyone is waiting for you."

"Oh of course!" Volteer stood "Would you be so kind as to bring the book?" Volteer asked politely. Drake grabbed the book and headed upstairs with Volteer.

"There they are!" Terrador exclaimed.

"What took you 2 so long?" Cyril questioned upon them entering.

Volteer and Drake looked at each other, exchanging a smile. Drake tossed the book onto the table, causing the plates to jerk and rattle slightly. He opened the book to the second page.

"Read." He plainly instructed. Ignitus read and turned the pages for everyone as they all looked at the book.

"A human! I thought they were just stories and myths!" Hunter nearly screamed upon the discovery.

"Apparently not if Drake is standing right in front of us." Spyro said.

"You know Spyro it's funny." Drake said sitting followed by Volteer. "Where I come from, dragons don't exist. They're just thought of as a figment of imagination. But cheetahs do exist where I come from, except that they couldn't talk; only humans could." Drake all of a sudden remembered he needed to explain something to everyone while they were all gathered around the table. "Hey, there's something I need to talk to everyone about." They all quieted down and listened.

"Go ahead Drake, you're free to speak." Ignitus said.

"It's come to my attention that the society I was raised in is **VERY** different than this one. Where I come from, it is absolutely forbidden for humans to form any relations with anyone outside our species. The main reason is religion. I'm not going to go into too much detail on why it's that way, but it is against all religions, including mine. But like it says in that book, humans are adaptive. So I'll at least try to get used to the idea but even if I do, it may take a while."

"Well Drake, it's good to hear you at least try something before you reject it." Terrador said. "Now let's eat, I think it's safe to say everyone is hungry."

Everyone chowed down to a relatively quiet meal, aside from an occasional chat that lasted only a few minutes. With the meal finished, Tesla left with a goodbye, everyone returned the goodbye. They all headed off to their rooms where they relaxed and unwound. That is until Cynder brought up a certain thorn in Drake's side.

"So what are you going to do about Fang?" Everyone else seemed to ask the question as well.

"I'm gonna kick that motherfucker's ass if he gets in my face again." Drake said as his fists clenched in anger.

"Are you sure that's the best idea?" Ember argued. "I mean why don't you just try to lay low; avoid attracting attention to yourself?"

"It's probably gonna be pretty problematic if I try to lay low. Apparently I did something that pissed him off yet I have no idea what I did. Cynder thinks that I tried to steal his mate but I don't even know who is mate is."

"Do you have any idea who it could be?" Flame asked.

"Nope, not a single clue." Drake looked out the window and saw it was getting dark. "We better get to bed; it's gonna be a long day I can already tell. They all hopped in bed and closed their eyes.

"Hey Drake?" Cynder said softly.

"Yeah what's up?" He asked looking at Cynder with his head on his pillow. Cynder thought about asking him a question that was important to her, but changed her mind at the very last second.

"Never mind." She said with a slight voice of sadness.

"Oh… ok." Drake closed his eyes.

"Goodnight Drake."

"Goodnight Cynder."

She thought about the consequences her question would have had if she came out and asked him.

"It's probably best I don't ask him." She sighed and closed her eyes, slowly faded into a sleep.

A/N: Since I am leaving for Spain June 4th, I will not be uploading new chapters for about a month. But when I get back I will be uploading chapters for all to enjoy. Also, feel free to add me on Facebook if you'd like… Search 'Destin Neff', I'm the one with the tribal dragon as their profile pic. And as always… Read and Review… This is DragonReaper 1-6 signing out!


	11. The Pact

Chapter 11: The Pact

**A/N: It feels good to be back from Spain. I had a great time and saw topless girls on the beach. Over the course of a month I got 3-4 reviews which really surprised me. Usually people will only look at the 1st and 2nd page for a story. But mine was somewhere around the 5th or 6th page if I remember correctly. I don't know if this is the case but it seems that people actually look for my story which I'm really thankful for and that everyone seems to be enjoying my story. Also on Sunday I'm going to a job interview at Burger King for a part time job so please don't get disappointed if my chapters start to come in later, I'm just trying to make some money so I can start doing more of the things I want. Anyway… Without further ado, I present Chapter 11… The Pact.**

Sunlight beamed through the window above his bed, a golden ray of the morning sunrise spreading across Drake's face, slowly creeping its way up until flooding his closed eyes with a strange mixture of colors. He finally opened his eye, although he was squinting from the light that was nearly blinding him. He sat up rather sluggishly and opened his eyes more, the light bending around the back of his head casting a shadow upon the door at the end of the room. He looked left and right to find empty beds with untidy sheets and small indentations from the bodies that once slept there. He practically flung his legs off the bed and stood. Even though he had a goodnights sleep, he was still a little groggy in the first few minutes of waking up. He quickly got changed, slipped on his boots and walked out of the bedroom and headed straight for the living room, grabbing a pillow on his way out. Upon rounding the corner he found everyone already sitting around it eating breakfast and slung the pillow at the first creature he saw with a nice sidearm; which conveniently enough was Flame. His head jerked forward upon the impact and he yelped.

"Asshole" Drake said flatly.

"What did I do?" Flame questioned.

"You didn't wake me up for breakfast." He replied in a slightly less flat voice.

Flame raised his voice. "Well I didn't think you'd have wanted me to wake you since you looked tired!"

"Yeah, yeah whatever." Drake walked back to the bedroom grabbed his stuff and headed out towards the door grabbing a shiny red apple from the fruit bowl in the middle of the table and opened the door. "You coming or what?"

They headed out the door to school. It was somewhat warmer than the last few days but it wasn't too considerable. Drake polished the apple on his shirt and promptly took a bite out of it. It had been a few days since Drake first went to school and it had been going fairly well aside from Fang constantly threatening him. Even though Drake said he'd kick his ass he didn't act upon it but it began to prove more and more difficult to restrain himself. Yesterday he nearly swung at Fang when he got in his face for the third time that week. Even though it was a serious problem he begged the others not to tell the guardians. On the lighter side, he got a job at the hatchery and was going to start working Sunday and as a celebration the guardians decided they should all go out to eat at a local restaurant on Friday and something else they wouldn't tell him. They arrived at the school courtyard and sat at their usual spot on the fountain, and no sooner did Tesla take her place next to Drake. When she looked over she noticed Cynder and Ember both staring at Drake, their eyes practically sparkling with a profound love for him which was apparent. All while Drake was listening to music, not even aware they were looking at him. Tesla got up and sat between Cynder and Ember and spoke up, tearing their eyes away from Drake.

"Cynder, Ember, we need to talk." She motioned with her head to the other side of the fountain.

"What is it Tesla?" Ember asked obliviously, doing a double take of Drake.

The air around her thickened with the mood of fear, fear that she would lose her friends she long had and knew for years if she didn't do something. Her claws ticked against the stone fountain she was sitting on as she fished through the fissures of her adolescent mind for the words she needed to save their friendship. As if some righteous light had shone through the crevice that hid the words she needed, she began to interoperate her thoughts into audible words.

"It's about Drake." She said gloomily. It was then that Ember and Cynder felt a pang of dread as she continued to speak. "I can't believe I never noticed this before, but it was just now that I realized we all like him. I mean I knew you both thought he was cute but… Not this."

"Ember, you like him too?" Ember to Cynder's astonishment, weakly nodded.

"I do. I thought I was the only one who did but… now-"she couldn't even bear to finish her sentence

"Cynder, how long have we all been friends?" Tesla asked about to make a point.

"Years" she muttered feebly.

"That's right" Her voice began to usher inspiration into the two crestfallen dragoness'." And we can't let all that go spiraling down the drain just because we like the same person. We can pull through this, and I intend it to be that way." Her words flowed smoothly, lathed with a powerful tide of inspiration. In fact it seemed as though the dread just washed away like footprints on a beach being lapped away by the tides of the ocean. Tesla continued her march. "This friendship we have means the world to me and I'm not going to stand by just to see it all smashed to pieces. Which is why we have to act now if we want to keep this friendship we've taken for granted. And I have just the idea… We need to let Drake decide for himself." Ember was instantly left in a cloud of confusion upon the end.

"Didn't you hear him last night? He said his society forbids it!" She nearly shouted.

"True, but remember the book? It said humans are an adaptive creature and Drake even said himself that he'd try." Tesla argued.

"Yeah, he'd **TRY** not **HE WOULD**." Ember said in frustration.

"I know that. But if we leave it up to him, he might change his mind about it." Ember began to relax but was still mildly confused with one question on her mind.

"So how do you plan on keeping us together?" Ember asked with a hint of skepticism. Cynder looked at Tesla as if asking the exact same question.

"Simple… We make a pact saying we won't lose it or get jealous if Drake chooses one over the other."

"Anything else?" Cynder asked.

"Flirting is acceptable." Tesla immediately replied.

"Sounds fair enough."

"Sounds good to me." Ember chimed.

"Ok it's settled. No matter whom Drake falls for we'll still be friends." Tesla announced.

"Agreed" they said simultaneously. They sat back down at the other side of the fountain next to Drake. To their confusion Drake seemed surprised to see them.

"There you three are." He said sounding relieved. "I was wondering where you went. One minute your right next to me then the next, poof, you're gone." It was actually flattering to the three of them Drake was worried about them, or at least missed having them there with him.

"Why? Did you miss us?" Tesla taunted in a friendly manner. Drake brought his arms around them on either side of him, one around Tesla, the other around Cynder and Ember. He chuckled with a partial smile looking at Tesla.

"You could say that."

**A/N: Sorry the chapter was so short, I wanted to make the transition from events to flow a little more smoother, otherwise one chapter would have multiple major plot changes and stuff that would complicate it to the point where I couldn't even think of how to begin the next chapter. And let's just say the plot may have a HUGE twist in one of the upcoming chapters… I'm not gonna say chapter but you can expect it before the 20th chapter. Also you may be wondering why it seems I share what happens around me in my authors note… Well there's a reason behind that… I like to share this sort of stuff not for popularity, but just to tell everyone what's happening around me. When I tell what's going on around me, it shows what environment I live in, how I live, and overall what I'm like. If you don't like it just feel free to tell me and I'll stop. Tell me what you think on the story: How I'm doing with the story, how I can improve, what you think so far, any plot ideas, and/or any comments in general. A new chapter shall be up soon. Also I will have my OC's on my profile up soon so you can get more info about the characters. **

**Signed,**

_**DragonReaper 1-6**_


	12. Cynder's Admirer

Chapter 12: Cynder's Admirer

A/N: Finally, after more than 2 months (tons of homework and a now crappy computer), the long awaited Chapter 12 is up. It took **A LOT **of writing in my notebook I keep just for my fanfics. It took up more than 10 sheets of college ruled paper (17 sheets to be exact which equates to 32 pages in total) to get this chapter drafted. So yeah you can expect this to be a long chapter. Also I'll be making a few minor changes to the story; mainly I'm just switching from Drake having an M14 semi-automatic rifle to an M4 selective fire carbine and the whole paintball/airsoft team, I just found it to be kinda useless info. I'm also removing the tattoo on his left arm. And if you haven't figured out already, Drake is based off me. The reason being is that the only thing one knows best is itself. Makes sense right? Anyway, without further ado, I present Chapter 12… Cynder's Admirer.

They made their way to Fault's class, turning into different hallways every time they saw Fang in the distance even though they had him in everyone of their classes. With split-second timing, ninja-like skills, and blinding speed (aka incredible luck) they made it without Fang spotting them. However there was something different… Next to Fault was a drake of equal size but instead was black with crimson underbelly scales and matching tiger stripes. He had graphite grey talons, horns: 2 standard angled horns on his head and 2 smaller horns next to those. He looked younger than most of the teachers, Fault included, and certainly sounded like it for the most part.

"Hello young ones." The drake sounded like and adult human in their early-to-mid twenties. "The name's Terrus, I teach stealth and evasion."

"Wait, I thought this was breaths and ranged combat." Drake tried to correct him to see if Terrus simply mistook himself but he seemed to know what he was talking about.

"Well it is, but I recently picked up a teaching job here and they put me here with Fault."

"So I'm assuming that you're an expert?"

"Sure am." He said proudly.

"Sounds about right"

Before Drake could even finish his sentence the doors behind him opened and the classmates came pouring in. Without even a glance, without even looking back for that matter, the footsteps ceased a few feet behind him. However 1 pair of feet came closer, so close he could feel a warm breath lapping against the back of his neck. He turned and received another warm breeze of air, this time to his face. Unfortunately he had inhaled through his nose as he turned. The odor was retched and familiar, familiar to the one stench that haunts mankind to this day… Morning breath. He couldn't help but gag and bring a closed fist up to his mouth. Before he even caught a whiff of that odor that reeked of carrion, he already knew who it was and looked up to confirm his suspicions. It was glaring at him, teeth barred.

"Drake" It spoke through its teeth, obviously it wasn't in the best of moods.

"Fang" Drake uttered repulsively. Before anyone could say anything else Fault spoke up.

"Alright everyone, I know this seems a little strange but class should now have a little more variety to it than previously. So for today and tomorrow, Terrus shall be teaching both classes." Fault handed the students over to Terrus.

"Thank you Fault for the introduction. Now class, how important is stealth when in combat?"

"Extremely" Drake simply said. Terrus seemed a little disappointed Drake was the only one to answer.

"Correct! And to show you this, we're going to have a little fun." A corner of Terrus' mouth crept up into a grin. Everyone was apparently ecstatic because he could hear people say "Yes!" or go "Whoo!"

"What game are we playing?" Someone in the back shouted. His grin turned into a wicked smile, teeth revealed.

"Manhunt" He said. A whooping cheer ran through the lungs of the class. Terrus smiled upon himself, pleased that the class had already taken a liking to him. "Rules: The people that hide get 5 minutes to find a hiding spot. If a person that's hiding gets the drop on you, you're out. If you are hiding and someone can find you and capture you, you're out. Now for teams; you, you, you, you, you, aaannnd you. You'll be the hiding team." Drake being the third person to be chosen. As they stepped forward, Cynder noticed Drake grab something from one of the bags on his Kawasaki.

"What was that he just grabbed?" She thought. Apparently Ember and Tesla were wondering the same thing.

"Hey Cynder did you see what Drake had?" Ember asked as she watched Drake and his team walk off.

"Yeah but I couldn't make out what it was."

"Who knows; maybe it was nothing." Tesla said.

There were 6 people on Drake's team including him: There was an anthropomorphic eagle/hawk, 2 cheetahs, a lizard, and a brown and black wolf who to Drake's fortune was not Fang. Fang was more black and grey. As they grouped together for a plan, Terrus intervened with a few words.

"Ok here's what's gonna happen: You all head into that wooded area-" He pointed "and you'll have 5 minutes to hide and think of some sort of strategy." Drake looked at where Terrus pointed and there it was…

"Is that a forest?" Drake pointed, eyes practically saucers.

"It's more or less a small wooded area than a forest."

"Seriously, how long has that been there?"

"It's been there ever since the school was built."Fault joined.

"So how long has the school been around?"

"Let's just say it's been around for a **LOOOOONGTIME**."

"But how-"Drake stopped himself and gave up. "You know what, I'm not even gonna question it." Drake and his team headed for the woods, discussing their plan on the way there.

"So what are we gonna do?" The lizard questioned.

"It'd probably be best to split up into groups of 2 but stay close to the others." One cheetah said as the other nodded in agreement.

"But if they find one group they'll find the rest of us." The hawk argued.

"So what are we going to do?" The wolf seemed frustrated, ready to accept any plan that seemed to be a good enough one.

"So let's just all split up" Drake interjected. "That way if one of us is found, they won't find all of us."

"Can't argue with that logic" The wolf said.

"Alright let's go."

Drake and his team headed out for their hiding places while Terrus went back to the rest of the class and waited 5 minutes. Afterward Terrus and Fault took to the skies to spectate while everyone else began the search to start the game.

"So where should we start looking?" Ember asked. They were at the edge of the wooded area when they had stopped as everyone else went on in.

"How about we just spread out a bit and if we don't find anyone we'll all head towards Cynder." Tesla suggested. Cynder in her own defense instantly questioned it.

"Wait why me?"

"I don't know you just the first dragoness that came to mind-"Tesla reacted defensively. "Ancestors Cynder no need to get all defensive about it."

"Fine whatever let's just start looking."

They entered the woods and split up; Cynder taking the center, Tesla on the left, and Ember on the right. They searched behind every tree and under every rock, leaving no stone unturned, and in more ways than one. Between the three of them they caught the 2 cheetahs, the wolf, and the hawk. However their team took heavy casualties with over 80% of their team taken out; Cynder, Ember, and Tesla were part of the less than 20% of their team remaining. Cynder had wondered into an area less dense than the one she was in. However, there was something odd about it; there was a lone willow tree off slightly to the right of the center of the less dense area. Her curiosity heightened slightly as she looked elsewhere until eventually her curiosity got the best of her. As she walked up to it twigs snapped, leaves crunched and rustled as she approached the weeping willow. She was nearly slapped in the face by the branches of shrubbery as she made her way through. She was at the base of the tree, examining it. The leaves hung so low they were just inches from the ground, and a few hung not even 6 inches above her head. She looked up at the tree branches to see if anyone was hiding up there but there was nothing. She began to leave the confines of the haven. As soon as she parted the leaves, her legs buckled from an intense and sudden weight. She struggled to get up but as soon as she lifted herself even the slightest bit, she collapsed. She felt herself being overturned onto her back to meet face to face with a terrifying monster. Long strands, a mixture of olive, light brown, and black, covered its body. It even seemed to be completely void of a face, just a soul sucking pit of darkness hiding behind strands of earth bound colors. Its face inched closer to hers. She could feel its soft, warm, steady breath; which to her surprise smelled clean and fresh. Then, she grimaced as it revealed a steel blade and pressed its bladed edge against her throat. The blade frigid and even sent a chill that caused her entire body to shutter at its icy touch. Its other hand came up and held her at the base of her neck. As terrified as she was, she couldn't scream; she was paralyzed in fears grip. Slowly it removed its hand from her neck and reached up, clutching a fistful of strands from the top of its messy head. Her eyes slammed shut, embracing what was sure to be her final sight. A moment passed, spanning only about 5 seconds but seemed to be hours in length. To end the retched waiting, she resorted to something that surprised even her.

"What are you waiting for? Kill me! Go ahead! Do it! Kill me already!"

"Well if you feel that way…" It said sarcastically. That voice… that voice was so familiar. So gentle, so benevolent, yet yielded so much strength and power. She opened her eyes to find the same earth colored strands, but upon scanning upwards found a different identity; and a surprising one at that.

"Drake?" Drake presented himself rather exuberantly, arms outstretched as he did.

"The one and only"

That partial smile of his revealed only his top row of teeth, arguably her favorite of all his smiles; as was Ember's and Tesla's. His smile was warm and amicable. It was one of those smiles that you found on an innocent person, incapable of doing anything wrong willingly. Drake, who was still straddled over her stomach, brought his face closer to hers, looking lovingly at her. She could feel her face become incredibly hot. Drake's hands flattened on the ground on either side of her head. And now, he was mere inches from her.

"Oh, and Cynder?-" Drake began softly. Cynder was so nervous she had a little trouble talking.

"Y-yeah Drake?" She said sheepishly. He drew closer, so close she wouldn't have been surprised if she could hear his thoughts.

"There's something I need to get off my chest… Something I've wanted to say ever since we went to the park the first day I met you."

Her mind raced; is he really coming onto me? Is he about to say what I think he's about to say? I can't believe it, we're having a moment. But one thought seemed to rear itself the most: Ancestors he likes me. He really likes me! On some strange instinct that told her to act, she brought her paws around the back of his neck and began to pull herself up to him, her eyes closing and mouth opening slowly as she did for a moment that was sure to seal the fate of the 2 juvenile beings.

"I win" Drake said softly.

There was a small but visible delay before she realized what Drake said. "Huh?" At that moment she was thrown into a torrent river of confusion. Suddenly Drake leapt to his feet and began running in circles, screaming like a banshee.

"Wooo I win!" I win muthafucka! Wooo!" Cynder, who was still lying on the ground in the same position as if she was still holding him, rolled onto her stomach and watched Drake do cart wheels. She put her jaw in the palm of her paw and just watched.

"Aaaaand there goes the moment." After about 3 or 4 cart wheels he began running in large circles, arms raised and outstretched, like he just scored the winning goal for the Euro cup.

"Wooooooooo! Hell yeah! I finally won! I can't believe it I finally won! Wooooooo!" Cynder stood and went to meet Drake in the middle of his celebration.

"Having fun?" She teased, her smirk teasing him further. Drake froze and cleared his throat.

"Um… Uh, yeah… Yeah… Yes I am."

"So what exactly did you win?" She questioned. Drake's smile was full of pride with a hint of smugness.

"I kicked your butt." Cynder began to laugh.

"You? Kicked my butt? Not even in your dreams Drake."

Drake raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because about a minute or two ago you were begging me to kill you. If that's not admitting defeat I don't know what is."

"I didn't say that." Cynder denied.

"Oh really? So you're saying you don't remember saying 'what are you waiting for? Kill me! Go ahead! Do it! Kill me already!'?"

Cynder knew she couldn't get away with lying but she still kept denying Drake beat her, even though it wasn't on even terms.

"Whatever. You only beat me because you were hiding in a tree." Drake immediately jumped on her statement.

"Ha! So you admit it! I did beat you!"

"Yeah, only because you had an unfair advantage."

"You're a dragon! You can fucking breath shadows for Christ sake! You have claws, horns, razor sharp teeth, a fucking tail blade, and you're covered in scales! All I have are these-"He pointed to one of his enlarged canines "And they're not even made to be weapons. Just chew food."

"Well you do have those." She pointed to his knife and pistol strapped to his thighs. He looked down at them then back up to her, hitting her with a "you gotta be fucking kidding me" face.

"Yeah, but unlike you I don't grow these on my body."

"Well I bet you wish you were a dragon don't 'cha?"

"Oh you have no idea." Cynder chuckled. She sighed and looked around her for a moment, turning her head left, right, up, and down.

"Well I better get going."Cynder turned to leave but was abruptly stopped.

"Hey wait, Cynder. You wanna hang out for a while? I mean the game's still going on and I've got nothing else better to do." Cynder was pleasantly surprised of Drake's invitation.

"I'd love to."

"Great! Follow me."

Drake led her back to the willow tree and climbed up the trunk to the lowest branch. He leaned back on the branch, holding himself up with his legs. He let his arms down.

"Alright grab on." She grabbed his wrists and he began swinging back and forth. "1… 2… 3" He swung her up to the branch. "And this is where the magic happens."

"What magic?"

"Pfft. Fuck if I know."

Cynder laughed to herself and rolled her eyes. She thought it was beautiful in the tree, the slivers of light penetrating the lime-green foliage. Everything was slightly tinted green, even her claws. She looked at Drake whose skin was also tinted green. Drake was leaning against the tree trunk, one leg pulled up and the other dangling off the branch. One arm rested on his knee, holding his other hand while he was looking at the ground below them, his leg swinging back and forth. As soon as Cynder inhaled to speak, there was a cry.

"Cyndeeerrr!" The voice called. It was sing-song and recognizable.

"Bet 'cha 5 bucks it's Ember." Drake wagered.

"Bucks?"

"Scales… Sorry." He corrected.

"But you don't have any." She taunted.

"Come Sunday I will. Now, switch me places."

Drake stood and slowly made his way to Cynder, wobbling like a webble-wobble as he did, while Cynder leapt over him with the grace of a cat. Drake looked back at her, Cynder's back still to him, looking at him with a smug grin on her face. Drake rolled his eyes. "Show off." He muttered. He replaced the black balaclava which covered everything but his eyes and part of the bridge of his nose. He then replaced the ghillie headpiece and looked at Cynder. It was the same exact 'monster' she had been defeated by. But never before had the monster seemed so… charming. He went prone, lying on the branch lengthwise, his arms and legs hanging off the branch limply. She could see why he chose that spot, he blended in perfectly. The long stands of his ghillie suit matched perfectly with the long strands of leaves of the willow tree. Snapping twigs and footsteps muffled by soft grass singled the approach of his prey. He heard leaves part and as soon as the steps were directly beneath him, he slid off. There was a loud thud followed by a quickly muffled scream. To Cynder's entertainment, it ended in similar results, except that Drake's horror stricken prey was somewhat less loud. Just as if it was frozen in fear.

"Hey Ember!" Drake greeted.

"Drake? Ancestors Drake you scared me!" Ember sounded furious, yet relieved it was Drake.

"Well of course. Who else could it be?" Drake asked, almost sounding offended. Ember seemed to sound guilty of something.

"I don't know I wasn't expecting anyone to fall on top of me." She said sarcastically at the end.

While this happened Cynder was still in the tree, laughing quietly as she listened to them. After 1 or 2 minutes of friendly bickering, Drake climbed back up and swung Ember up. Ember turned to see Cynder. She jumped, not expecting to see her friend.

"Gah! Cynder!" She fell back, Drake catching her by the paw. "What are you doing up here?"

"Drake brought me up here after he 'beat me' and we just hung out." Ember had a suspicious grin on her face. She got closer to Cynder within whispering distance.

"Was there… Anything else you did?"

"What? No!" Cynder quickly said, immediately blushing. Ember paused for a moment, still grinning.

"Are you sure? You didn't kiss or… Anything?" Ember winked. Cynder started to become frustrated.

"No, we didn't kiss, we didn't do anything… Especially not what you're thinking of."

Ember started intensely at Cynder for a moment. "Alright I'll buy it."

Soon enough they heard another voice calling both Cynder's and Ember's names. Drake turned to the two lovely dragoness'.

"Bet 'cha-"

"We're not betting anything Drake." Cynder interrupted.

Drake got into position and waited before sliding off upon the signal. Cynder and Ember watched, finding it was Tesla who Drake had. However unlike Cynder and Ember, Tesla wasn't playing the helpless card. She writhed under him, knocking him off balance then tossing him off. She leapt on top of him, pinning Drake to the ground. A deep, intense growl crept out from Tesla's throat, her lips retreated revealing barred, razor sharp teeth. Her mouth opened as she lowered her head towards his throat. Finally after what seemed like hours, he spoke up.

"Uh… Tesla?" He squeaked. Just a she was about to bite into his throat she stopped. She grabbed a mouthful of strands from his head and lifted, revealing his identity. Turned out, he was pretty cute.

"Oh! Well hello Drake. I wasn't expecting to see anyone here. Anyone as handsome as you are that is." And as usual upon seeing Drake, she began flirting her heart out.

"Aaaaand there she goes flirting with Drake again." Cynder announced, slightly irritated.

"Do you think she'll get him?" Ember asked.

"Doubt it."

"Well, let's keep watching."

"So how've ya been Drake?" Tesla asked, sitting on his stomach.

"Good, good. A little deprived of oxygen from a certain dragoness sitting on my stomach but good."

"Well that's good to hear. I can't wait for dinner Saturday."

"Yeah I can't wait either. Volteer was telling me the place is great."

"Yeah, the place is pretty good." Tesla got off of him, letting Drake up. "Oh and make sure you dress nice…" She got close to him "Just for me." She winked

"I'll keep that in mind." Drake chuckled, nudging Tesla.

"So what are you gonna do now?"

"Well I was gonna ask if you wanted to stay here and hang out with me."

"Well I would love to stay with you."

"Sweet, I'm gonna climb up first and bring you up. Be right back." Drake began climbing. When he reached the branch and looked down, she was gone. "What the-"

"I'm right here." Something said right in his ear causing him to jump like Wile E. Coyote. He looked beside him. It was Tesla, smiling at him and sitting extremely close to him.

"Dammit Tesla you scared the shit out of me!"

"Sorry 'bout that, I'm faster than you think-"Tesla added an afterthought. "By the way, I can get up a tree myself. I am a dragoness after all; I can take care of myself."

"Well excuse me for trying to be chivalrous."

They began chatting randomly about whatever came to mind whether it be about food and drinks to funny things that happened to them. Soon enough they heard another. But this one didn't sound so feminine.

"Why can't I find anyone? Ugh this sucks." There was a loud crack. "Agh! Dammit that fucking hurt! Stupid branch hit me in the snout." As the voice got closer, it became more and more recognizable.

"It's Fang." Drake mouthed.

Drake pulled his headpiece on and waited. An insidious smile crept over his face under his mask. He waited silently as Cynder, Ember, and Tesla watched on. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he waited, the gentle breeze and leaves waving slightly being his only companions in the deafening silence. The footsteps grew closer as the seconds ticked by. His heart began to race. His breathing slowed in concentration. The signature rustling of leaves signaled the arrival of his prey, springing Drake into action. He came down, knocking Fang to the ground but slipping off in the process. Fang got up just before Drake and looked at him. Fear rose from his stomach, horror was the only word to even come close to describing what he felt. Drake lurched forward, causing Fang to stumble backwards. Drake reached out at Fang as if he was Death with his fatal touch. But as soon as he got close, Fang scrambled to his feet and high-tailed it, nearly tripping when he first started to flee. Drake pulled off his mask, having a disappointed expression on his face.

"Well hat wasn't very fun." Drake said aloud.

"I'll say-" Tesla agreed leaping down followed by Cynder then Ember. "I didn't even get a good glimpse at his face before he ran. Oh well, at least we got a good laugh."

"Yeah, frankly I'm surprised he ran off like that." Cynder said.

Drake began to laugh. "I swear Fang may seem like a hard-ass, but he's just a pussy deep down inside."

Suddenly, they could hear a mighty roar, a second one joining in the middle of the first. Running on the notion the game was over, they headed back, Tesla telling an interesting story.

"You're not gonna believe this, before I went looking for Cynder I found that lizard that was on your team Drake and he started hitting on me. So I played along and began flirting back to the point where he was stammering. Then I stood up on my hind legs, put my paws on his shoulders and then- THWACK, smacked him right across his face, left a big red mark right on his cheek. I think I even saw claw marks too."

"Geez, cold-hearted much?" Ember teased.

"Hey, I'm very particular about the people I'd have a relationship with. I'm saving myself for that-"Tesla got closer to Drake to the point where she was leaning against him "special someone."

Ember rolled her eyes. "Yeah I can see that."

They emerged from the woods to find Drake was the last person hiding. However there were still about 10 people on the search team. Fang was talking to his 2 pack members when he turned and noticed Drake and derided him hysterically along with his 2 pack members.

"Look at him! He looks like a bush!"

Drake immediately interjected with a counter. "That's not what you said when you were too busy running with your tail between your legs like the little shit you are."

Fang glared at him and turned back to his pack. Drake went back to his Kawasaki, slipped out of his ghillie suit, tossed it in one of the bags, and sat in the grass. He saw the lizard on his team indeed had a red mark ob his cheek; claw marks too… And it was bleeding!

"Damn" Drake thought looking at the bleeding claw marks.

The last 10 minutes of class proceeded rather slowly but most likely because they sat quietly the entire time. At the end of class they headed back inside, joined by Spyro and the others just before going through. They snaked their way through the halls to Agility and Combat class, first there as usual. Apparently to Drake's surprise it was some sort of freed day so Drake finally had some time to read more of the book on humans. Spyro and the others went off doing their own thing while Drake looked for a solitary spot to isolate himself from everyone. He ended up climbing up some sort of scaffolding that was part of the obstacle course. He had a good view of the entire area and could see everything that happened: his classmates doing whatever and the teachers spectating sparring matches. Drake reached into his backpack and pulled out the book. He put in his ear-buds and randomly selected a song. Conveniently, it was a live tribute by the Big 4 (Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer) to a band called Diamond Head, covering their song Am I Evil?; one of his favorites. He began reading while he listened, his head bobbing to the beat:

"Just like the human body, the human mind is extraordinary. The human mind is powerful; extremely powerful and complex; more so than any other creature including dragons. Like the human itself, the inner workings of its mind are shrouded in mystery. Although they share a lot in common, their minds are the most powerful, which can be both a blessing and a curse. Ancient depictions of humans have shown them to be experts in thinking games, masters in the art of mind tricks, and are known to have the most formidable of minds. It's even said they have telekinetic powers."Drake laughed through his nose at such a ridiculous idea. But still, he couldn't help but be curious and drew a pen out of his pocket and sat it in front of him. He glared intensely at it, putting forth immense concentration; after about 10-15 seconds he gave up. He was slightly disappointed but at the same time he figured he should've known better. He flipped the page and continued reading:

"As mentioned previously, the powerful human mind is both a blessing and a curse. While they do harbor vast amounts of wisdom and skill, they are haunted by a disease of the mind that still to this day infects all creatures in the Dragon Realms: Insanity. Insanity as we all know is a disease of the mind in which the affected loses mental stability and the thought process of rationality. Insanity can be induced in a plethora of ways such as constant living in fear and torture. Insanity is most commonly associated with hallucinations and delusions in which the affected begins to see or hear things that are not truly there. Humans are affected more adversely due to their powerful minds, which is said to amplify the potency that affects a creature (a dragon for example) so much to the point where it would drive anything other than a human to seek its death to escape the mental suffering. Aside from the more adverse effect of insanity on a human, they hold something that is truly dark and twisted. This ties into the depictions of human being masters of darkness. While all creatures have a dark side, a human's dark side is truly terrifying. Similar to a dragon, which is one of the only creatures to undergo a physical change, humans as well go through a physical change when their dark side takes over. This however is much worse. Their strength, combat skills, speed, everything goes through the roof. They become more powerful and dangerous than a dragon in its dark side by far. When a human changes to its dark self, they become an apparition of their former self. They become ruthless, bloodthirsty monsters. The shadows they control are their only companions. The one that corrupts them, they follow with complete devotion, following their will to the letter. Unlike dragons who are able to turn back from their dark side, it is not known if a human can do the same. It has been theorized that unlike dragons who simply need t be calmed, humans need to be soothed by either coming into contact with someone they love or exposed to a resemblance of their life before corruption; most likely by memory. There are also two other ways human can traverse the fine line to their dark self. If someone they hold near and dear to their heart is hurt, they lose control and protect their loved ones with ferocious devotion and seething rage. Or when put under extreme stress such as torture or the death of the ones they know and love. But if they become deeply enraged, especially when they lose a loved one, they become a force that demands and feasts upon the fear of their enemies. Their seething rage becomes a weapon of its own. They gain the elemental powers of a dragon, but that power is magnified beyond belief. Not only do they gain all elemental powers, they gain the furies to those powers as well. Their power becomes immeasurable, nothing could possibly stop them. On top of that they undergo more changes: First of all, their vision improves dramatically to that of a dragon's as does their hearing, if not better. Then their skin becomes armor of its own, similar to that of a dragon's scales. Their muscles become enlarged and more defined. They become the perfect killing machines. If this power was to be tapped into by some malicious force, there's no telling what could happen to the fate of the Dragon Realms. Cities would lie in ruins; darkness would plague all walks of life; death would dominate the Dragon Realms." Drake peered over the book to find Tesla looking at him. He pulled out his ear-buds.

"Yeah?" Drake paused his music.

"Oh I just wanted to see what you were reading." Tesla sat next to Drake and leaned against him to read the pages. In about four or five minutes she finished reading and began talking to Drake. "Wow that's dark" she said staring at the book.

"I know right?" Drake closed the book and put it in his back pack. "That book gets deep when I read it… It's like a door to a new world is opened up to me… And I get to go through it."

"Do you believe the stuff in that book?" Her question was sincere, not meant to be teasing him or making fun of him.

"Pfft. The book says I have telekinetic powers for crying out loud. Saying I believe that is like saying I believe in unicorns-"Drake's eyes shifted left and right. "Unicorns don't exist do they?" Tesla shook her head. "Ok good."

They talked for the rest of class and headed down to Tempest's class, taking their seats when they arrived. When the rest of the class arrived, class started; albeit a little differently.

"Drake, Tesla, Cynder, and Ember-"Tempest called. "Please sit in front of this canvas."

They did as they were asked. Tempest liked to use templates such as Drake to show the class different techniques in painting, drawing, or anything really. They sat there idly while Tempest explained different techniques in forming the base for a portrait and shading. Sitting still for about half an hour began to get extremely boring, so Drake found the perfect way to pass the time. He playfully shoved Cynder, earning a look at him for Cynder in which he played dumb. When she turned back Drake shoved her again.

"Oops" Drake said when she looked at him.

She caught on and shoved him back, causing Drake to nearly fall out of his seat. Eventually Tesla and Ember joined in, and in about a minute or two into it, they all ganged up on Drake. Eventually due to random timing, they pushed him at the same time, shoving Drake right out of his seat. They all started laughing hysterically, the entire class too. Even Tempest was guilty of laughing a bit.

"Alright alright everybody go to lunch." She said still laughing a bit.

The entire class burst through the doorway, heading to their favorite "class" of the day. The lunch was actually pretty good contrary to popular belief. They had Salisbury steak which tasted amazing. And the best thing was… the portions were larger; twice as large as today's low-budget school lunches. When they returned Tempest called Cynder up and handed her a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it and looked at it, hastily refolding it as soon as she saw what it was of. Her cheeks turned a slight yet deep tinge of red as she looked around to make sure no one else saw it. Tempest anticipated her reaction and smiled.

"I told you before, you two make a great couple; as would Drake with Tesla or Ember."

"But still do you have to embarrass me like that?" Cynder whispered nervously.

"Well maybe if you three didn't have a crush on Drake I wouldn't be embarrassing you." Tempest suggested. Cynder was thrown into shock.

"Wait, how did you know?" Cynder questioned.

"You three were all over him. The way you all stare at him, how close you always are to him. I'm not blind you know."

Cynder walked back to her table, still blushing from embarrassment. She tossed the paper onto the table in front Tesla and Ember. They stared at the paper then slowly opened it, Cynder taking her place beside them. When the paper was unfolded Cynder's and Ember's jaws dropped. Even though she already saw the picture Cynder hadn't seen entirely what the picture was, all she saw was a heart and that was it until now. Tesla on the other paw had a smirk on her face. The picture showed Drake tied to a chair with a lock on it with Tesla lying on her back in his lap, her forelegs around the back of his neck, holding herself up and licking his chin while locked into a stargazing stare. There was even a key ring with a single key on her tail. Cynder and Ember were on either side of him kissing him on his cheeks; there was even a big heart at the top. All while Drake had a nervous look; his face tinted red under his eyes. While Cynder and Ember were still silent, mouths agape, Tesla just kept smiling.

"Yeah that's something I'd do." She said.

The class seemed shorter than it usually was but hey; the shorter the school day is the more free time you have to yourself. As they went out the door to go to their next class Drake realized he had forgotten his backpack.

"I'll be right back, I forgot something."

Drake ran back in and grabbed his backpack, made sure everything was there and walked back out the door. He looked around to see where Spyro and the others were since they weren't in the same place anymore. Drake finally saw them down one of the hall, talking and laughing while waiting for Drake. As soon as he took one step he was stopped

"Hi" A voice said kindly. He turned around and saw it was the same wolf girl that he saw a few days ago. And she was smiling at him.

"Hi" Drake replied. "You need anything?"

"Actually yes-"She took a step closer to him. "I just broke up with my boyfriend recently and I was wondering if-"

"There you are you sonofabitch!" That voice was all too familiar it reeked of seething rage and jealousy. Drake turned to meet Fang who was breathing heavily through the grit of his teeth.

"Oh great, look who finally decided to get their tail from between their legs." Drake taunted.

"You crossed the line now mother fucker!"

"Ok so how exactly did I-"Drake, as if out of the blue, had some sort of suspicion.

He looked at the wolf girl and then back at Fang; similar colors, similar color patterns, snout shape, and ear shape. True they could have been siblings but it didn't seem to click. Usually siblings share some sort of resemblance not just physically but behaviorally. Fang was obnoxious, short fused, reckless, and arrogant… Yet the wolf girl was patient, caring, nice, mild-mannered, and had overall appealing qualities. That's when it struck him.

"Look, uh-"

"Vana" She stated.

"Vana, you're nice and all but I'm not into you. You need to get back together with Fang." Vana just looked at him funny.

"As much of a sweetheart he is, I wouldn't date my own brother."

It was as if someone had just hit Drake with a brick square in the face. He couldn't believe it… They were actually siblings. And worst of all… Who was Fang's "mate?"

"And as cute as you are, it's not you who I was wanting. I was hoping you could hook me up with Hunter."

"Wait so-"Drake turned to Fang. "Vana isn't your girlfriend?"

"No that's gross! Why would I date my own sister?"

"Then who the fuck is it you're in love with?!"

"Her!" Fang pointed. Drake followed his pointed finger. Drake's eyes widened upon seeing who fell victim to his point. And if he felt like he was hit in the face with a brick when he found out Vana and Fang were siblings, he might as well been hit by a Japanese bullet train.

"Cynder?!"

A/N: Fang has a crush on Cynder?! That can't bode well for Cynder having a crush on Drake. And you have just witnessed a chapter over 2 months in the making. Aside from the story my dad bet me $5 to do the cinnamon challenge. Well… I did it… And I failed… But I didn't throw up… I spat it out. It burned my mouth and I could actually feel my entire mouth covered in cinnamon. And I couldn't even swallow it because my dad put an entire tablespoon of cinnamon in my mouth… A FUCKING TABLESPOON! There was so much cinnamon I couldn't even swallow any of it. And the entire time we were in the kitchen next to the sink and my dad was dying of laughter. His face turned red like a cherry for Christ sake he was laughing so hard! And when I tried telling him it was burning my mouth, a puff of cinnamon came out and my dad was like "You look like Puff the Magic Dragon!" Finally I spat it out in the sink and it took me like 5-10 minutes to wash it all out. I don't even think I got all of it still. But anyway, tune in next time for Chapter 13! I'd also like to thank VallitanTheDragon for volunteering to do artwork of my fanfic. As always… Please read and review. This is DragonReaper 1-6 still questioning why I did the cinnamon challenge.


	13. Sweet Dreams

Chapter 13: Sweet Dreams

A/N: Here's the long awaited Chapter 13! To all my readers: I'm terribly sorry for the long hiatus. I've just been so busy with homework and other things that I never really got to work on my story for a while. Please know I have not given up on writing. I was just so unorganized with my homework from school that most of the time I'd be doing homework for countless hours that I had to catch up on from procrastinating so much. Hopefully since I'm more organized I can be on a regular schedule of writing for all you folks who have shown me so much support. Thank you so much you guys for reading the pieces I work on. I'm just glad there are people out there who like what I write. To the guest who posted an anonymous comment that said "U suck cynder is SPYRO girlfriend!" Chill the fuck out! It's just a story. No need to get all butthurt over my rendition of a game series I hold so dear to my heart. I love the Spyro saga, which is why I write stories about it because I don't want to see it die and have everyone forget about it. Jesus Christ dude, if you don't like it then write your own story so you can have things the way you want them. Anyway, now that that's over with I present you Chapter 13: Sweet Dreams… Also just so you guys know there is a bit of lime in this chapter. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up so you don't get caught off-guard by anything that makes you too uncomfortable.

Ever since that moment, the rest of the day seemed nonexistent. He was completely numb to the outside world. Everything he did was habitual until they started eating dinner, where they listened to another one of Volteer's lengthy stories where he began to ramble periodically. And when he laid in his bed his eyes just held themselves open. After countless hours of staring at a dark-bathed ceiling, his fatigue finally got the best of him and his eyes ceded power. As soon as his eyes closed he was out like a light. However, his eyes opened, but he wasn't in the room or even his bed, he was lying on the ground. When he stood and looked around he found he was in what appeared to be a living room, and a very decorated one at that. There was a lit fire place in front of him; behind him was a black leather upholstered couch, capable of seating about 3-4 people, with shiny brass studs that held the leather to the armrest. On opposite sides of the couch, turned so that they pointed towards the fire and pulled noticeably forward, were living room chairs identical to the sofa and even had matching footrests. The hardwood floors were a non-glossy color of black just like the furniture. Sitting close in front of the fire was a large velvet-red rug bigger than him. He ran his hand over the rug. It was nice and warm from the fire and incredibly soft, like your hair from using conditioner after you dry it when you finish a shower. The strands of carpet were medium length. Enough to where if he pressed his hand into the fibers his hand would sink below the tops of the strands. And the walls were a dark red coating, a similar red to the rug. The room was astounding in taste; in fact it suited Drake's own taste, granted he didn't have his own house. He looked at all the sort of things the room had to offer; certainly whoever had designed it was certainly a wealthy individual with keen eye for home décor. Drake took off his socks and shoes as is the polite thing to do; after all he didn't want to ruin such a lovely room. He found the room very relaxing and sat in one of the chairs. It was comfortable and even had a slight warmth to it from the radiating heat of the fire. Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a soft giggle from and shot up from the chair, looking around to see where it came from. He had a sudden and moderate fear upon hearing it and didn't bother to sit back down. Then he heard the distinct sound of a breath going into his ear, he whipped his head in its direction but nothing was there. He started to have a slight paranoia and he started looking around everywhere, seeing movement that could or couldn't have been real. Then he felt something brush past his leg causing him to startle and look down. At his feet was a cloud of black fog around them that seemed to move at its own volition leaving a tail behind it. He quickly scrambled out of the small cloud that was no higher than his ankles. Then it began to move in large circles around the room, crawling up and down the walls, over the furniture, and even splitting around the legs of the furniture. Drake began to become increasingly fearful, so much in fact he was still. The cloud positioned itself in front of him at a sort of distance and made its way to him in a sinuous path. And just as it got within 3 feet of him it began to manifest itself into a creature. He couldn't make out what it was, but whatever it was, it was standing 1 foot in front of him. While it did have a dark-spectral appearance with wisps of dark fog coming from it, he could make out some details and the overall shape of it: it was slightly taller than him to whom he was about chin level to it, solid glowing blue eyes, a long thick tail, large hands, and human-like legs. He could even make out some of the finer details like its fingers, toes, and from how thick the tail was, he had reasonable evidence to assume it was a creature covered in fur. And the last thing he noticed was its large rounded breasts. This clicked in his mind it was of course of female origin. It took a step closer to him, causing Drake to stumble backwards nearly falling hard onto the floor. It matched Drakes pace as he retreated slowly. Then, he bumped into something that gave way slightly. He looked behind him and there was another dark creature identical to the first one except this one had glowing green eyes. He began to break down into a tremble as they both just continued to look at him, trapping him between their two bodies. Then, the blue-eyed devil he was facing began to reach out at him. Out of pure terror he backed up, bumping again into the green-eyed creature behind him. When he tried to get away, he didn't seem to hardly move. Looking down he realized the green-eyed shadow was holding him, its arms completely encompassing his waist, its fingers grasping his hips as if hugging him. Drake began to hear himself nearly whimper as he froze completely. And the blue-eyed she devil took another step closer, nearly standing on his own toes, reached out, and caressed his cheek with the back of its hand, feeling and petting his beard he started growing the day before he got to the dragon realms. He gasped suddenly and quickly from the gentle touch. It's hand recoiled at the sudden action, but shortly resumed. The shadowy creature's eyes narrowed happily and giggled gratefully. Drake's breathing began to become forced to the point of hyperventilation.

"Well," It said observantly, "looks like we've got ourselves a cute one to keep us company." Its voice was slightly spectral yet flowed smooth like a silk whisper and was quiet like a purr. It crouched slightly bringing itself eye level to Drake, then brought its arms around the back of his neck.

"Wha-what do you want from me?" Drake spoke stammering in fear.

"There's nothing to be afraid of my dear-"She began petting the back of his head with her arms still around him, then standing so she was back to being taller than him. "You're safe here… Nothing is going to hurt you." Drake began to calm as she continued petting the back of his head. "There, isn't that better?"

Drake gulped. "Y-yeah" He shuttered, just getting over the fear he had experienced just a few moments ago. He wasn't entirely sure but he felt that the dark she-creature was smiling. The way her eyes narrowed made it appear so. And the green-eyed one behind him was still hugging him, resting its chin on his head.

"Well since you're here, why don't you relax and make yourself comfortable? I'm sure after being frightened out of your wits you'd like to relax in the lap of luxury wouldn't you-"She asked nodding to her green-eyed companion. "Because I know I would."

"I sure would-"The green-eyed shadow nodded, her hands shifting to hold him by the stomach. Her voice was strikingly identical to the blue-eyed shadow. "I'd be hoping someone would be there to protect me." She implied holding him tighter. She was feigning her 'fear' with amazing acting skills to the point that even surprised Drake.

After what seemed like hours they let him go. The blue-eyed shadow moved behind her friend as the green-eyed shadow released him. She then held her friend by her hips as they looked at him. Drake took a few steps back to gather his composure. He became less tense as the two shadows continued to observe him.

"Please-" the green-eyed shadow spoke "make yourself comfortable." She motioned towards the rug in front of the fireplace.

Drake's eyes shifted back and forth between the two. Something didn't seem to quite fit: Why were they so kind to him? He knew he was dreaming but it felt so real. He kept this though in the back of his head and accepted their offer, and rather begrudgingly at that. He sat on the rug. It was extraordinarily soft and comfy, like it was made out of an actual cloud. And the warmth from the fireplace made it all the more comfortable. One of the shadows joined him while the other had simply disappeared. At least that's what it seemed like. The mood was calm and he began to lose himself in thought as he gazed at the fire. Thoughts began to swim in his head like koi in a Zen-garden. He kept repeating to himself that he was dreaming but a small part of his mind seemed to want to contradict him. He was so lost in thought in fact, that he didn't realize the other shadow returned until she rested her hand on his shoulder. He snapped out of his thought and looked up to see her with a few wine glasses and a large glass bottle of a pale yellow sparkling liquid. She sat the sat the glasses down and opened the bottle which immediately began to bubble. She quickly poured the glasses to prevent it from bubbling over and handed everyone a glass. Rarely had he had any sort of alcohol but he figured it was good to take his mind off things. He took a sip. It tasted like champagne which he guesses from the start. However it tasted a little tangier and even had a slight citrusy taste to it as well. Lemon maybe…? And as if she had read his mind she answered his wonderment.

"It's champagne infused with oranges. It sounds like a strange beverage but it's delicious. It's my drink of choice." He had to admit though she was right.

"Man if I ever get back home I've gotta find me some of this" he said to himself.

After he finished his first glass he began to get a warm feeling in his stomach. The buzz he was feeling was just what he needed to feel truly relaxed. The champagne began to flow and after a few more glasses on Drake's part mostly, the bottle was empty. He sat his glass down and fell back, lying in the carpet as if it were the summer grass. He was in a state of euphoria as he looked at the ceiling, the fireplace radiating heat mimicking a summer's day. Both the shadows hovered over him, staring at him as he smiled for no apparent reason. They both exchanged looks at each other. Under those shrouds, they were beaming pleasantly at one another. They turned back to Drake, still beaming while he was still in a slight daze from the champagne. Drake managed to bring himself up by leaning back on his elbows. His head swayed slightly from drinking the alcohol he did; yet surprisingly he still managed to retain a good portion of his judgment. He looked at the shadows on either side of him. Now comfortable around the two, he started to talk more smoothly.

"You know, you never did tell me who you were" he said giving them both a cool look of curiosity.

The green eyed one gave a sweet chuckle. Unexpectedly, she straddled his waist and just looked at him. A grayish line started to form on the sides of her snout right where her mouth was supposed to be. She then placed her hands on his shoulders. And right before she spoke Drake noticed right where they gray line was, parted from each other to form an actual mouth. He could even see it articulate the words too.

"We're your dream come true" She said softly. She then leaned in and kissed him.

Drake's eyes simply widened. He pulled back quickly and just stared at her with his already wide eyes. He noticed her tail began to flick side to side as she smiled lusciously. As he spoke he began trying to slide out from under, stumbling over words as if he was a backfiring truck.

"I uh- I don't um- you see- I mean- I don't think-"

"And where do you think you're going?" She said toying with him. She had seized him before he even budged an inch. She grabbed his hands and placed them on her thighs then moved her hands to his chest. "You know, we've been lonely for quite some time. Why don't you stay and keep us-" she leaned in closer. "Company?"

He wasn't sure how to proceed. However she already decided for him and started kissing him again. His eyes just darted back and forth as she continued. At one point he felt something sharp scratching against his stomach. He peered down and saw her hand under his shirt rubbing his stomach. He jerked back and started breaking out into a sweat. And before he could say anything he was already silenced.

"Well, well, aren't you the shy one" she said observantly. "I'm surprised you don't have females falling in line for you." She removed her hand from his stomach and looked at her claws with admiration.

She ran her claw up and down his cheek. His eyes trembled as she locked eyes with him in a sultry gaze. With a flick of her wrist her claw sliced his cheek, Drake winced in shock. Right along the path her claw traveled, there was a thin red line that began to release a dark red fluid. The small cut began to sting slightly, making it not painful but more of an uncomfortable feeling. She examined the small laceration closely. Suddenly, Drake felt something wet run up his cheek. His cut began to burn and he began to wince. It was then he realized she was cleaning his cut, licking the blood off. She replaced her hands to his chest and slowly began pressing against him as she continued cleaning his wound. Soon Drake was lying flat on his back with a mysterious shadow straddled around his waist. He struggled to get out but the shadow behind him was holding him by his shoulders. He looked into her deep blue eyes; her sapphire embedded eyes. She looked back at him with a frozen stare, their eyes locked in place. He found his hands were rising up. He tried to lower them but they kept rising. He concentrated as hard as he possibly could but he lost control of himself… literally. Next thing he knew his hands were on her waist, holding her comfortably. She leaned down and started to kiss him yet again. This time he noticed he wasn't pulling back even though he tried, because he noticed he was also kissing her. He thought to himself to stop, like he was talking to someone else. He was literally screaming in his mind to stop but he wouldn't. It was like he was hypnotized. Their mouths open repeatedly, deepening their kiss. Her hand reached under his shirt again and started rubbing his stomach. Somewhere in the middle of it she grinned widely as they kissed and grabbed the waist of his pants. Drake's grip tightened on her waist and grinned through their kiss as she undid the button and the zipper. She slipped a finger into the waist band of his undergarments and began tugging on it. And just as she began removing them, Drake had awakened. His instantly sat up as if he had just heard someone break into the house. He was panting uncontrollably and wiped his forehead. His hand was covered in sweat. He looked out the window and saw it was as bright as could be.

"Jesus, how long was I out?" Cynder's head peered into the room.

"Hey everyone he's awake" she called out. Then the whole gang excluding the guardians flooded into the room.

"Finally you're awake" Tesla said gratefully.

"Tesla, what are you doing here?" Drake shook his head to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"I came earlier in the morning. We've been waiting for you to wake up now for about two hours now."

"Two hours?! Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

"We wanted to let you sleep" Flame explained. "Cynder said she saw you were up for a while last night so we let you sleep."

"Did you already eat breakfast?"

"Yeah" Flame nodded. Drake glared at him and chucked a pillow at him, smacking him with a muffled thud.

"You didn't wake me up for breakfast?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I just told you-"

"Sonofabitch you're dead!" Drake scrambled out of his bed and chased Flame out of the room. His paws scrabbled against the floor as he fled out the room.

"What did you guys eat for breakfast?"

"Pancakes" Tesla answered. "They were good too."

"Aw man! Now I'm gonna be hungry all day!"

"Relax" Cynder said nudging him. "We saved some for you. They're still warm." Drake heaved a sigh of fortune. He picked up Cynder and gave her a gracious hugs.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Cynder! I love you so much, you have no idea!"

"Heheh, no problem Drake" she said shyly. Drake put her down and everyone walked out of the room except for Cynder and went over to his bags.

"Well I better get changed out of these." Drake took out a change of clothes and started to pull down his pants until he stopped and looked at Cynder who was still in the room. "Do you mind?"

Cynder stood there for a second. "Oh! Oh, sorry." She turned around and waited for Drake. After a minute or two Cynder turned back around to see Drake putting on a black-square studded belt; it went nicely with his faded blue slimming pants and his black t-shirt.

"You know if you had turned around about ten seconds earlier you would've caught a little more than you bargained for" Drake chuckled.

"Well thank goodness for that" Cynder joined. They both walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

"You know, we were listening to you talk in your sleep for a while. What were you dreaming about?" Cynder asked curiously as Drake sat in front of a plate of pancakes.

"It was-" Drake thought for a moment reflecting on the dream he just had. "Let's just say it was a weird dream."

A/N: Well there you have it, Chapter 13: Sweet Dreams… Since I haven't typed for a while it might not be up-to-par with the chapters beforehand. But tell me what you think. Your guys' support has really been inspirational to my writing. Also, I'm thinking of taking a break from this story and working on others I have planned. So far I have two other stories planned: Guardians of Rock: The four guardians: Ignitus, Volteer, Cyril, and Terrador form a heavy metal band but their lead vocalist leaves the band. So they journey to different realms in search of a worthy vocalist. Eventually this search brings them to Earth, where they find a young man who dreams of becoming a rock star at a huge concert. When this young man joins the band, he starts to get a taste of the rock star life. But it may prove to be too much for him… Urban Jungle: This is set in modern-day California. Dragons and humans live together in the modern world. A young man who worked as a car mechanic and a firefighter lost his job and is forced to take up a white-collared job at a large corporation. The CEO of this corporation is none other than Cynder. He lands the job. However Cynder finds out that her life outside the workplace often intertwines with the new employee's outside life. After seeing him outside the workplace numerous times, she reports him to the owner of a company she is also heavily involved as a possible new "talent." This story goes further as the two become involved in both companies… And those are the two other ideas I had for other stories. Tell me what you think of them and if I should take a break from this story and work on one of the other ones. If so, which one would you like to see come out next? Thanks for all your generous support you guys. You've been a real big help to me. As always, leave a review on what you guys think.

P.s. Also, there's something I haven't told you all… I'm a furry… yeah, that's right… a furry… just felt like I should tell you guys that. My fursona is a heavy metal dragon… You know, like the music. And that's really all else I had to say. Have a great day everyone! This is DragonReaper 1-6 signing out…


	14. Nightlife

Chapter 14: Nightlife

"Hey, look at that one!" Tesla said with glee. Everyone crowded around her, looking into a small glass display case.

In the small, isolated display case was a pendant hanging from a hook. The pendant itself was large, about the size of Drake's palm and sun-shaped. The main pendant was a lustrous gold. On top of that, was a black, secondary pendant cut just like the main pendant except a little smaller. And embedded into it was a deep red, circular, sunburst cut ruby.

"Wow it's beautiful! What gem do you think it is?" Ember asked openly.

"Well, from the looks of it," Drake began. "It looks like some sort of ruby or garnet if anything." There was a hearty laugh. Behind the counter that ran along the perimeter of the store, a large yellow dragon stood.

"I'd hardly call that a ruby, let alone a garnet." The shopkeeper left the recluse of the counter and stood next to the display. "That my dear boy is a soul gem." He shook his head. "Hard to find now-a-days."

"I knew it was a soul gem" Cynder said aloud. "As soon as I got close I could feel some sort of magical energy. Didn't know what it was until I saw this beauty."

Drake stood there, awkwardly listening as his eyes occasionally darted from one person to another. He wasn't too sure what to think of something he had never heard of before. And out of natural curiosity, he had to inquire to know more.

"Hold on a minute. What exactly is a soul gem?" Drake could have been a little more subtle with his question but that didn't occur to him since he had to know immediately.

The shopkeeper gave him a peculiar look. He wasn't too sure, but the look almost appeared condescending. "Where are you from, young one?"

"Geez," Drake thought. "How many times am I gonna get called that? It's getting kinda old now." He then quickly switched to speaking verbally. "Well, I'm actually-"

"He's not from around here," Tesla interjected.

From the look the shopkeeper gave them, it was hard to tell whether or not he believed her. Whether or not he believed didn't change the fact Drake was indeed from another world, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. After a moment of giving them a judgmental look, the shopkeeper finally began explaining.

"Well, soul gems are what our ancestors left us. The very essence of them are in those crystals. There are two kinds of soul gems: magic gems and vitality gems. They both have their own properties that define what they do. Every dragon is born with a special elemental ability they control. Some are born with more than one which is extremely rare. To use these powers, also called breaths, requires magic. While dragons can produce the fuel required to perform these special abilities, they produce it at a much slower rate than if they were to destroy these."

So far Drake found it all very intriguing. The fact that a small gem withheld such power in its crystalline structure just begged for more questions to be asked. How does breaking a gem revitalize a dragon's magical energy? How long have these been around? Sadly, even if he were to ask, the shopkeeper, even with the wisdom he possessed, wouldn't have been capable of delivering a satisfactory answer.

The shopkeeper continued. "And just like the green gems, there are the red vitality gems. Their properties are similar to the green gems except that they mend the wielder's wounds. Using one would make wounds heal right before their eyes. Broken bones would align and fuse back together. A life could be saved if one suffered a mortal wound. However, once someone has passed, there is no bringing them back. If a limb is lost, it will be gone forever unless the limb was to be connected to its original spot and a red gem used. Even then, it is extremely unlikely that it will happen."

After taking a second look at the pendent, Drake saw the pendent to be even more beautiful before, knowing the power that could be harnessed from it. But with such power could only mean the cost of it was just as vast.

"So how much is this going for?" Drake inquired.

The shopkeeper gave him a glance and looked back at the pendant. "Currently, it's going for 2,500 scales."

All except for Drake nodded at the price. Drake leaned over to Cynder. "Is that a lot?"

"That is a lot" she quickly responded.

"I see." Drake looked down at his watch, which read 8:30 p.m. Not knowing if his watch was set right, he looked at the simple clock that hung on the wall between 2 sets of shelves that was filled with exotic gems and jewelry. He leaned back of to Cynder.

"Do you remember what time dinner was?"

"9:00" she stated plainly. "Why?"

Drake's heart skipped a beat. He looked back at his watch, making sure he didn't just read it wrong. 8:31 p.m.

"AHHHH!" He took off towards the door, grabbing the 2 closest friends that were within his reach and slinging them over each shoulder as he did. The 2 of which just so happened to be Cynder and Tesla. "We gotta gooo!" He then proceeded to ram straight through the door, disappearing from view as he took an immediate right. All without skipping a beat.

Everyone that was still in the shop stared at the door, swinging back and forth.

"Uh," Flame choked out. "What just happened?"

"I don't know," Spyro answered, still staring at the swinging door. "But something tells me we should be going with them."

The rest of them finally snapped out of their daze and tried to catch up with Drake, leaving the shopkeeper alone in his shop. He shook his head. "Ancestors these foreigners are strange."

Cynder and Tesla, who were getting a free ride from Drake, were still in a near trance-like stupor, looking at the ground pass by them, faces frozen and eyes somewhat widened. They both shook their heads, Cynder ever so slightly after Tesla. Breaking out of their stupor, their heads started snapping to all different directions, gathering what just happened and what was going on. Noticing a pair of legs disappearing and re-appearing on an alternating basis, they followed them upwards until they reached the back of what was obviously a head. Knowing only one body shape, they realized it was none other than Drake himself. Tesla's face lit up into a smug smile. She turned and looked at Cynder, followed by her close friend who looked at her a moment later. Cynder's face was littered with confusion, wondering as to why Tesla was smiling in the most smug way possible. Tesla held up a clenched paw, still looking just as smug as ever. Cynder stared at her for a moment, this time wondering why her close friend had a clenched paw pointed at her. Then it hit her. Cynder's expression quickly went from confused to unamused. Seeing this, Tesla shrugged, thinking to herself "Suit yourself" and continued to enjoy getting a free ride.

Meanwhile, Spyro and the others were still trailing a bit behind, struggling to keep their pace.

"Ancestors!" Spyro was practically gasping for air with how fast he was running. "How is he moving so fast?!"

Hunter responded. "I don't know. I've never had my legs hurt from running before."

After a few minutes near Olympic athlete speed running, Drake burst through the door. Upon bursting through the door, he received acknowledging looks from the guardians who were gathered in the living room.

"About time you showed up" Volteer commented. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up at all. And you know how important punctuality is in everyday life which is why I expect-"

"Volteer, will you kindly cauterize your lips together so I don't have to listen to the sound of your incessant buzzing" Cyril mockingly asked.

Volteer responded defensively. "Well I don't much care for your attitude! I'll have you know that a common characteristic of talkative dragons is an endless source of knowledge!"

Cyril rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and a headache..."

Having enough of this, Ignitus jumped to the matter-at-hand. "Quiet! Both of you!" The ice and electricity guardians immediately ceased their arguing, heads suddenly shrinking lower like they were caught red handed for stealing something. "Anyway, you should-" Ignitus suddenly noticed there were still 4 people missing. "Wait, where's the others? And why are you carrying Cynder and Tesla?"

Drake looked around. Upon looking over his shoulders, Tesla and Cynder waved at him. Suddenly, he noticed the lack of a giant fur ball, a purple drake, an irritating red drake, and a shy pink dragoness. He put Tesla and Cynder down. "I uh... I thought they were with me." Just then, the missing four had arrived, choking on the air they were breathing. "Oh, speak of the devil."

"How... are you... that... fast?!" Flame questioned, speaking between gasps.

Drake shrugged. "I don't know. I just ran hard. I saw we were gonna be late and I wasn't having any of that."

Ignitus continued with his previous statement to prevent any further time being wasted. "Anyway, you young ones get ready. We'll be leaving soon."

They rushed into their room, Tesla and Ember at Cynder's side. Everyone looked through their chests placed at the foot of their beds except for Drake who was looking through his motley pile of duffle bags. Drake frantically looked for nice clothes, not even realizing he never packed any to begin with. He began to grow increasingly worried as he continued his search fruitlessly. However, upon searching though the least bag, he found a large tied-up grocery bag laying on to of the rest of his stuff. He opened the bag up, revealing a treasure trove of his former life. Stacked on top of each other were a few nice pairs of pants, a few button down shirts, a black velvet blazer, black loafers, his entire shaving kit, hair gel, and his laptop. It was almost enough to bring a tear to his eyes, reminding him of his family back home. "Oh man, I'm the luckiest person alive" he said to himself. But on top of it all was a small, folded piece of paper, somewhat wrinkled from the time it spent in the bag. He unfolded the paper and read the ink writing:

"Hey son, you almost forgot to take these with you. I figured you'd get bored on your trip so I packed you your iPad. Now, you're probably wondering why I packed you your nice clothes. Well, there's a very good reason for that. I want you to find a nice, pretty girl that makes you happy. You've been single for what seems like ever since you were born. All I've wanted is for you to be truly happy. To be happy with someone who you can share your heart with. To love and be loved. I know that once you find that special someone, you'll be even happier than you've ever been. - Love Mom

P.S. - I packed you a little extra something just in case things get a little out of hand . ;)"

He looked at the note curiously, particularly at the small after statement. He looked back at the bag and dug through it again. This time, he pulled out a small box that had been stuck between a pair of shirts. On the box was letters printed in big bold letters that read "Trojan". He rolled his eyes, shook his head, and smiled. "Wow mom, you sure are something." He tossed it behind him and continued rummaging through his bags for a short moment longer, making sure he grabbed everything he needed. As soon as he had everything he felt he needed he grabbed his bag and headed to the bathroom, only to be stopped by the three dragonesses, who were examining a small package on the ground. In fact, it just so happened to be the same package Drake had tossed from his bag. Drake became wide eyed as he saw them looking at the small box. He thought to himself.

"Shit..."

"Hey Drake," Cynder spoke, looking up from the package. "What are 'condoms'?"

Drake knew that at that moment, he had to pull the biggest bullshit lie he had ever attempted in his life. "Oh! Uh... they're uh... balloons." All eyes were on him now. Stuck there with his 3 draconic companions while everyone else was off somewhere else, more than likely finished getting everything they needed already. All he could do was stand there and continue to be analyzed, all while hoping they wouldn't ask any more questions.

Tesla was the next to question him. "Why do they say 'for her pleasure'?"

At that point, he just began to pull the biggest bullshit answers he could possibly think of. "Uh, because who doesn't love balloons? I mean, do you like balloons?"

The three seemed almost seemed taken aback by how defensive he suddenly became. "I suppose so" Tesla responded.

"Well then you take pleasure in balloons. Hence, 'for her pleasure'."

"I suppose that makes sense. But it says on the box they're also ribbed. What's the point of them being ribbed?"

Drake muttered to himself. "God dammit..." He then began to speak aloud. "Well they're ribbed so you can get a better grip on them when you hit each other. Haven't you ever had balloon fights before?" He reverted back to talking himself. "Ok, maybe that wasn't the best thing to say. It sounded a lot better in my head."

Cynder, Tesla, and Ember seemed to buy it.

Tesla began to open her mouth. Realizing instantly he was about to be questioned yet again, he reverted again to speaking in his mind. "Oh come on!"

"Well, can we try 'em out sometime?"

Drake's face because flushed and hot. "Uhhh..."

"Well can we hav-"

"No!" Drake quickly interjected. He snatched the box and fast-walked to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind him.

As everyone was getting ready for their night out, the guardians, who were still residing in the living room, began to converse about not wanting to be late for their dinner. Cyril especially, being the most impatient considering what else was at stake.

"Ancestors! How long are they going to take? We've been sitting here forever!"

"Calm down, Cyril. They'll be ready soon" Ignitus reassured.

"How long do you think it will take them" Terrador questioned.

"They shouldn't be anymore than 10 or 15 more minutes."

"They better!" Cyril became somewhat irate at that point. "If we're late, we might not get my favorite booth! And you know how much I love that booth. It's got a perfect view of the stage, it's got the best fragrance, and the candle a gives just the right amount of light to that booth to make it more appealing to the eye!" Cyril glanced at the clock again. "Ancestors! Why won't they be done already?!"

"Wow Cyril," Volteer commented, laughing somewhat . "You're starting to sound just like me after I've had coffee. Maybe I'm not the most annoying one after all."

Cyril shot a glare at Volteer. "Zip it you overgrown lightning bug."

Volteer made a comically smug grin, knowing he obviously made Cyril even more frustrated than before he said anything.

"Cyril, calm yourself." Ignitus had grown to become irritated himself from hearing them bicker. Especially having to hear it constantly over multiple centuries. "Getting anxious over a simple dinner is nothing to become upset over. Now stop your complaining and Volteer stop instigating!"

Volteer opened his mouth but quickly closed it when he realized Ignitus was almost approaching his breaking point. To much of their relief, particularly Cyril's and Ignitus', everyone had flooded into the room. Cynder and the other dragoness' looked unimaginably beautiful. To any other drake that would've gazed eyes upon them, they might have been mistaken as a trio of draconic goddesses. Their scales glimmered from the lighting of the house, their teeth and horns shined after being polished with near perfectionary skill. Their claws were trimmed, sharpened, and painted, giving a more clean and pristine feel. Their eyes had been painted with an egytian style design that would demand the gaze of anyone to lock eyes with them. They wore special bracers and chokers to give them a more regal aura. And their forelegs had intricate lines drawn, ending just below their elbows, showcasing their unique styles and personalities. Tesla had flames colored in a vibrant red, hinting to her aggressive yet passionate character. Cynder had more sleek and thinner elegant lines brushed in gold that accentuated her neat, lively attributes. Finally, Ember had taken a different route using silver paint. Thin lines akin to the strings of a guitar cascaded into ornate swirls, giving an elegant sense to her already dainty self.

As for the drakes, they hadn't had anything as meticulous as their female companions, but they still looked even more handsome. They had cleaned their scales, horns, and teeth quite well and wore their own special, masculine chokers and bracers for the occasion. As for paintings, they all seemed to have something more or less akin to tribal tattoos. As for Hunter, he had dressed himself in a vibrant cloak. A motley array of colors that signified all kinds of personal characteristics.

So there they all stood. Ready for their night of merriment to begin. However, there was a certain piece to their puzzle of a group missing. A key piece to their ensemble.

"Where's Drake?" Cyril questioned.

Ember responded. "He's in the bathroom."

"I could hear him singing in there too" Tesla added.

"Ancestors! He better not make us miss our reservations!" Cyril started to become frustrated out of all things.

Terrador huffed, becoming extremely irritated by Cyril's constant complaining. "Cyril. Can you please just be quiet for about 2 minutes? I'm starting to get a horrid headache from hearing you complain all this time."

And to much of every one of the guardians' relief, Drake had rushed right in, fully dressed and ready to go. Everyone stood there, staring at him, analyzing his taste in dress. Drake's hair has fashioned into a fauxhawk, his dark brown, nearly black hair sweeping into a medium length ridge in the center of his head. What was left of his beard was now a pencil thin chin strap that ran flush with his jaw line. And any skin that wasn't covered in facial hair was thouroughly cleaned. Under his stand-up collar, black velvet blazer, he wore a silver grey button down shirt that fit well with his slim black pants and black loafers. He also wore a small shield necklace that read on the front: "Rom 8:37". On the back of which had the correlating scripture that he would read whenever he felt scared, depressed, or felt a pronounced negativity in the strife of everyday life. And finally, there was the sweet smelling aura that surrounded him. While everyone had their personal kinds of perfumes and colognes, Drake's fragrance seemed to be a bit more pronounced than the others, a sweet smell helping with the overall fragrance.

Drake spoke sincerely. "I'm so sorry for taking so long! We're not late are we?"

Volteer immediately looked at Cyril upon seeing Drake run into the room. "See? Nothing to worry about! We've still got 20 minutes to spare." Volteer then turned to Drake, observing him for a quick moment. "Ancestors Drake, you look great!"

"Uh, thanks!" Drake smiled. He was surprised no one was upset with him, at least from what he could observe. Even Cyril who just looked relieved. And from what Drake surmised, it had to do with something about him nearly causing everyone to miss their dinner.

"Volteer's right," Cynder reaffirmed. "You look wonderful." She smiled.

"Wow uh, thanks!" Drake was genuinely flattered he was receiving so many compliments. "You all look great! I love the marking you-"

"Yes yes, we get it, everyone looks good" Cyril blurted out. He went to the door and held it open. "Let's go. We haven't got all night for mere flattery."

Finally, Drake and company had taken to the evening streets of Warfang. The brick-laden streets were illuminated by the column of oil lanterns atop poles running down the middle of the street, along with lanterns hanging from houses. While on their way to the restaurant, the guardians began asking a few questions aimed at Drake.

"So Drake," Ignitus started. "How do you think you'll like working at the hatchery?"

"Well, it certainly sounds fun. I mean, I get to play with a bunch of dragons! That's like the coolest thing ever!" Drake couldn't believe he actually had a job where he literally just watched and played with dragons for a living. Even though he had only been there for maybe a week or two and had seen things that were thought to be non-existent, he just couldn't fathom having a job taking care of baby dragons.

"Well I certainly hope you enjoy it," Volteer said. "I'm sure you'll have fun. Not many people get to work in the hatchery. And the fact that you were hired after only a few days in Warfang is simply unheard of."

Drake shrugged "I guess they just saw something in me."

"Maybe." Volteer proceeded to ask Drake a question. "So, your home. What was your home like?"

"My home?" Drake thought for a moment. "Well, where do I start? I've been all over the place back at my home world. But as for where I've stayed, I've been in Florida most of my life."

"What's Florida like," Cyril asked.

"Oh man, where to begin." Drake began to reminisce on everything he could remember of his hometown. "It's beautiful, I'll tell that. Really beautiful. You're always within an hour or two of a drive from a beach, the weather is warm year-round, a bit humid but that's to be expected being a peninsula. Oh man, speaking of beaches, Emerald Beach is the best. The water is clear like drinking water. There's plenty of times you'll spot dolphins close to the shore. So close, you could literally swim to them and get to pet them and swim with them. It's one of the best feelings ever. Another thing, Florida is known for its oranges. Best freaking oranges you could ever taste. And as for fun, well, let's say there's never a boring night since there's always something to do." Drake began getting caught up in his stories of home. He thought about how he first go to Warfang. It was so sudden, so mysterious. He had to wonder how he'd ever get back to his friends and family. Suddenly, Drake went silent.

His family...

His friends...

His life...

Suddenly, it hit him. How would he get back home? He hadn't the slightest idea of how he got there. If he didn't know how he got there, how could he possibly hope to get back. As much as he like Warfang and its inhabitants, he knew where his home was. A lump began to form in his throat, his heart began to ache, his eyes began to water. His face began to express a somber sadness. Memories began to flood into his mind all at once. All the good times he had with his friends, the holidays he spent with his family, everything. His eyes slammed shut. Just as a tear began to exit his eyes, he wiped them away. He couldn't let them see him like that, crying over something as simple as home. Everyone had noticed Drake suddenly became quite. They looked at him, Volteer noticing his eyes were tinted a light red.

"Drake?" Volteer spoke gently, expressing a voice of concern. "Is everything alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Why?" He looked at Volteer.

"You just became quite all of a sudden. And your eyes look a bit red."

"Oh, yeah. I think my allergies are just acting up is all. I thought I was about to sneeze but it was a false alarm. Everything's fine."

They seemed a bit skeptical on his explanation. "You know, Drake," Volteer began. "We're here for you if you ever need someone to talk to."

Cyril joined in. "He's right, Drake. If something's bothering you, we'll always be here to show you support."

"I appreciate it," Drake responded. "But really, I'm fine. Just allergies is all."

This time they seemed to buy it. "Alright then."

After about 20 minutes of other topics of discussion, they had arrived at their destination. On the outside, the place looked well kept, was clean, and had a posh look to it. The place was called "The Golden Cabaret". At that name, Drake surmised they were eating at a dinner theater. It had been quite a while since he saw any sort of performance, let alone at a dinner theater. They approached a waitress, a lovely wolfess dressed conservatively and covered with a red apron, and after a quick exchange of information between her and the guardians, she led them inside. Immediately things began to open up. The interior was dimly lit. Tables along the edges of the walls were booths whereas in the middle of the floor was a bunch of tables, some standard height, others shorter to accommodate all species. And on top of the tables were small candles, giving a tender touch to the scene. Over to the far left of the floor was a small bar, stocked with all sorts of spirits and ales.

The waitress led them over to a corner booth and seated the guardians. Cyril beamed upon sitting in their booth that was surrounded by large cushions, designed to seat large dragons and gryphons. Obviously it was his favorite table. The waitress then led the rest of them to a low standing table, about knee height, surrounded by cushions that was significantly closer to the stage. They took their seats. And as expected, Tesla, Cynder, and Ember sat next to Drake whereas everyone else filled in the vacant seats. After all this time, still no one other than the three dragoness' knew why they had always liked to be around Drake. Even Drake himself hadn't realized why. Everyone at that table had thought they were just trying to keep him company to help him adjust to his new home. Not once did it cross their minds did that they actually liked him. Whether or not they knew, it never changed the way they thought of each other.

Drake opened his menu, followed by the others. 7 pairs of eyes scanning the pages filled with appetizers, entrees, desserts, and drinks. Some dishes were obvious as to what they were, like salmon. There were also dishes that Drake had never heard of, which from what he could guess, were cultural delicacies. But then, there were dishes he never expected to see like steak Marsala and oddly enough... burgers! The fact they had burgers in this world was enough to make him think what else he hasn't seen yet. As much as he was craving a good burger, he had to keep some aspect of class. He ordered a steak Marsala while everyone else got something similar or completely different. As for Drake, he ordered some sort of orange drink that, from what Cynder told him, was suppose to be amazing. Cynder had the same while Tesla ordered a cherry drink, Ember with pink lemonade, Spyro and Flame ordering some strange blue colored concoction, and Hunter, being the odd man out, ordered water. The waitress left and shortly returned with their drinks. In the dim atmosphere, Drake noticed his drink was glowing and sizzled with something akin to a carbonated beverage, along with Cynder's. Although it certainly was a nice touch, he couldn't help but feel unsettled with the fact it was glowing. Seeing this, Cynder gave Drake assurance.

"Don't worry, it's not poisoned or anything. It's a sunburst cocktail. It's made from oranges and a few other exotic fruits that begin to glow when mixed together. It tastes just like those Monster things you have."

Drake took a small sip. And true to Cynder's word, it had a sweet, smooth orange taste that gave a slight tickle to the back of his throat. There were hints of other fruits, some of which he couldn't describe since there were also fruits that were native only to Avalar. As they waited for their food, they talked about anything and everything that popped into their adolescent minds.

"So Drake," Cynder began. "What was that dream you had about?"

Drake, who was in the middle of drinking, spit back into his cup. He looked at Cynder with an expression of surprise.

"Oh uh, nothing much. Just a weird dream." Drake wiped his mouth.

"Oh you are lying so hard right now," Tesla objected.

"Shut up! No I'm not!" Drake suddenly became flustered, turning red under his eyes.

Tesla giggled uncontrollably, trying to suppress her laughter as best she could.

Drake started to become even more flustered than before. Suddenly, Tesla stopped and looked at him with an unsettling smile. She knew something and Drake could see it plain as day.

"You had a one of 'those' dreams didn't you?"

Drake blushed. "N-no!"

Tesla broke out into a fit of laughter. "You did!"

"No! Sh-shut up!" He crossed his arms and looked at the table with a face to that of a grumpy child.

While this was going on, everyone else had played the spectator role and watched their exchange unfold. The commotion between Drake and Tesla had earned their table a few stares.

"Of all people, the perfect Drake has a flaw! He's scared of intimacy!" Tesla practically roared in laughter.

"I never said I was perfect!" Drake rebutted,

Tesla finally managed to get a grip on herself. At least to the point where she was more or less suppressing a giggle.

"I'm sorry, Drake." Tesla hugged him, still in a giggle fit. "I couldn't help myself."

The various stares they had acquired around them finally diverted back to their original points of interest.

Tesla kept holding him and looked at him with an impassioned expression. "Was I in it?"

Drake looked back at her, giving her a funny look. "Uh, no?"

Tesla let him go. She looked at the others who gave her astonished looks.

"What? It was a legitimate question," she protested.

Drake sighed. "Well, now you now my secret. I get nervous in intimate situations."

"Awh! That's so cute!"

Drake looked at her, caught off-guard by her declaration. "Wh-wha?"

"What? I think it's cute when someone is shy. I prefer a shy guy over some stuck-up jerk because with a shy guy, you can tell they're really sweet from how they're really passive and don't usually make the first move. Whereas, a guy who's really confident is also a big creep when he's REALLY confident." The way she said the last sentence, it sounded almost as if she was about to spit in disgust.

As if on cue, the waitress strode up to their table and placed their appetizers on the table. Drake almost asked when they ordered them, but he figured one of the others did while he wasn't paying attention. After dropping off a few plates, she waited other tables and left them to their own pleasures. Pushing their previous conversation out of mind, Drake began telling jokes. Most of which no one understood except for Drake who was always laughing.

"Wow, your kind's humor is way different from ours," Spyro commented.

Drake took a deep breath after just getting over his laughter. "Shut up! I'm funny!"

Drake turned to the appetizers. In the middle of the table there were 3 plates: one with fried calamari, one with cherries, and one with peeled orange slices. All stacked with enough all of them to have their fair share. Drake plucked a piece of calamari and popped it in his mouth. It tasted just like it did from the time he ate at Carrabba's. It was crisp with a chewy core. There was also a slight lemon taste to it which made it all the more savory. One by one he started eating them, along with the others grabbing for them. About 15 minutes into eating, red curtains parted on the stage. The entire room of occupants turned their attention toward said stage. Downstage center stood a tall, well-dressed wolf, holding what looked like a jury rigged microphone. His voice could have easily carried throughout the building, yet he still used a microphone for one reason or another. it was a tad bit loud but nothing serious enough to blow out his ear drums. He started off with the same, slightly altered, cliche.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began. "Dragonesses and Drakes. We are thankful to have such a lovely full house this evening. Tonight, we have a very special performance at the end of the show."

"Special huh?" Drake thought. "Well this ought to be good."

"So kick back, relax, and get ready to have a good time." The wolf took a bow and left the stage.

Soft claps filled the floor, a few whistles and hoots specked the babbling applause, adding more anticipation for the show. Not even a minute later, the curtains opened up a second time to reveal a somewhat lanky cheetah dressed in motley attire. From that observation, it was quite obvious it was going to be a comedy act. Most of the jokes and puns were only culturally relevant, leaving Drake in a fog of confusion as everyone around him roared in laughter. Well, now he knew exactly how the gang felt about his jokes just moments earlier. The following acts were a bunch of short plays followed by musicals and even someone telling stories. It seemed kind of infantile at first to be listening to stories but it quickly became more and more enjoyable to Drake's surprise.

Just when they thought the final performance had ended, the curtains opened up once again. Immediately music filled the air. It was slow and methodical, with the beat of some sort of drum carrying the rhythm. Standing there front and center were 2 vixens; orangish-red fur with a fair white belly, black fur at the paws a bit above the wrists and tips of their tails and perky ears. From the way they stood, it was plain as day that they were quite tall compared to Drake. While they both looked nearly identical, there were two things that gave away their differences. The first being that one had emerald green eyes and the other a deep, gorgeous sapphire blue.

Both wore outfits akin to a gypsie's or belly dancer's, metal chips layered over various pieces of their clothing. They also wore a loosely bound, transparent, purplish material that flowed smoothly with every movement, flowing and gliding around them like some sort of wispy specter. They walked with a certain strut to their step, hips swaying a bit more than the average person, giving hint to the fact they were natural dancers. And how true it was. Their individual moves flowed smooth like water, creating a torrent of passion as they moved in tandem with each other.

At first the music was slow and smooth with a deep bass emphasizing their rhythm, their elegant dance matching the tempo. Gradually the music began to pick up. As this happened, Drake and the others were pounding down on appetizers, reaching finally the plate stacked with cherries. Their food they ordered finally arrived. The waitress placed Drake's steak Marsala in front of him, yet he hardly realized it because he was so enraptured by their dance. Instead of going for his entree, he reached over and grabbed a cherry. He tossed them into his mouth one by one. In the middle of watching the show and eating, there was a yellow blur that came and went. He looked around, eventually coming across Tesla, who was smiling at him with a cherry held between 2 of her talons.

Drake raised a brow. "Really?"

"Really," Tesla responded derisively as she ate his cherry, adding a bit more sting to her response.

"Alright," Drake said. He grabbed another cherry, but this time bounced it off of Tesla's snout, catching it on the re-bound. Tesla looked at him as he chewed on the cherry and began laughing, followed by Drake. "Now THAT'S how you do it."

"Whatever, dork" she said rolling her eyes.

"Me? A dork? Pfft, whatever." Drake gave her a gentle shove and grabbed another cherry, tossing it into the air as he tried to cath it with his eyes closed. He waited for a moment, but no cherry. It didn't even bounce off his forehead. It was like it disappeared into thin air. He looked over at Tesla. "Dammit Tesla, I'm trying to eat!"

"That wasn't me," she stated plainly. Drake gave her a look expressing obvious disbelief. Tesla motioned for Drake to turn around.

He looked over his shoulder to see someone towering over him. He followed the body to find out it was one of the dancers looking down upon him, a cherry pinched between two of her fingers. She popped the cherry in her mouth and grabbed Drake by the collar, hoisting him up. Even standing up, the emerald eyed performer stood significantly taller than Drake. She looked him straight in the eyes with a licentious gaze. Drake began to feel uneasy in his situation. Drake spoke.

"Uh, what are you-" next thing he knew, he had been seized by his collar again and locking lips with the dancer. He froze out of complete surprise, giving a whole new meaning to the word 'stunned'. After what seemed like hours, he was finally relinquished. The dancer stroked his chin and gently sat him down, proceeding to dance off elsewhere. Drake just sat there, motionless and shocked, looking straight ahead, his face tinged slightly red. Eventually he looked at Tesla, holding the same gaze he had to begin with. He suddenly felt a strange lump in his mouth. Reaching in, he plucked a moist cherry. He gazed at it then looked over to Tesla.

"I wasn't eating a cherry when that happened..."

"So, that happened..." Tesla said. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just a bit... Confused. And lacking of an appetite," Drake said as he placed the cherry on his plate.

True to his word, he had the lack of an appetite. The rest of the performance proceeded onward. At the end, Drake hadn't even touched his food. As the entire restaurant started to leave, Drake and the others followed suite and proceeded out the doors. Meeting out front, once they had their entire gathering, they walked off to, presumably, home.

"So how did you all enjoy the show?" Igintus inquired.

"It was amazing!" Ember said enthusiastically. "I haven't been to a show that good in forever!"

"Yeah," Cynder agreed. "It was phenomenal."

"For sure," Tesla joined. "I bet Drake especially enjoyed it." She nudged him.

"Shut up" he said flatly

"Oh yeah! That did happen!" Spyro said.

"Shut up!" Drake became irritated. "That was really awkward for me! She freakin' slipped a cherry into my mouth. It was weird..."

"Alright, that's enough," Terrador interjected. "Leave Drake alone."

"So what now? Are we headed back home?" Drake asked.

Volteer spoke. "Well, we are. The night is still young for you, young ones."

"What do you mean, Volteer?" Asked Flame

Suddenly, they found themselves stopped in front of a building where the thumping sound of music pounded at the walls. A glowing sign hung over the red cushioned door that said '_Dance of 1000 Songs'. _In front was a muscular alligator, standing arms crossed and stern faced, ready to give any troublemaker a good beating. Next to him was a well dressed cheetah who was intercepting the line of people trying to gain entry. Volteer gave them all small pouches to wear around their necks. Drake opened his up and saw a bunch of scales filling the sack. He took it off and held it towards Volteer.

"Oh no no no, I'm fine. I don't need money for anything." As much as he appreciated it, he found it awkward to accept a gift from someone, especially being a monetary gift.

"Drake," Volteer started. "We want this celebration of yours to be special. It's the least we could do for someone separated from their home and family. But you're part of our family now. And being part of our family, we want you to feel welcome. Please Drake, accept this small gift. You don't owe us anything. We just want to make you feel welcome is all."

Taking what Volteer said, he withdrew his hand and put the pouch back around his neck. Despite of course feeling slightly uncomfortable with accepting.

"Thanks Volteer," he said. "I don't usually like accepting gifts but I can make it an exception this one time."

"Good." Volteer smiled. "Now you all go have fun. We'll wait for you back at home."

With that, the guardians turned and went off to their home, leaving Drake and the others in front of the club. They got in line, which proceeded fairly quickly as more people were let into the club. Drake took off the pouch and looped it through a belt loop, proceeding to tuck it into his pocket. Only moments after that, a person standing next to the door inside grabbed his hand and placed a leather collar and leash in his hand, a yellow crystal, and moved him forward. The music grew louder as they went deeper until they came to the main dance floor, crammed full of dancing bodies that moved to the beat of the music. Drake looked at what he was handed. The collar was a black leather with a gold design etched into it. A metal ring was attached to it, connecting a long leash to the collar. It looked fancy, but he wasn't sure why he was given it in the first place or even if he was suppose to wear it. Then there was the yellow crystal. There wasn't much to it except that it had a faint glow emanating from its core. He turned to Tesla showing her the collar and gem.

"So what's up with these?"

"Oh! That collar is part of the theme for tonight. It's called Slaves of the Night." The way Tesla said this seemed very ecstatic to Drake. Almost uncomfortably at that. "It's like a girl's choice dance. The males wear these collars and you have to dance with whoever grabs your collar. It's really fun! You'll love it!"

"I don't know," Drake doubted. "Something about this just doesn't sit right with me."

"Oh come on, don't be a party pooper." She stood on her hind legs and took Drake's collar, slipping it over his head and around his neck, tightening it just enough so it was snug. "There, now you're ready to party."

"I don't know," Drake said. "This still feels kinda weird to me. I mean, wearing collars? Seems a bit... I don't know... Sexualized."

"Come on! Everyone's wearing one! Let's dance!" She tugged on the leash and dragged him to the dance floor.

"No wait! I can't dance!" Drake did everything in his power to resist her, but in doing so he risked choking himself to the point of unconsciousness. Upon reaching the dance floor Tesla kept the leash around her wrist and stood on her hind legs and began dancing. At least, that's what it looked like for the most part. With the floor crammed with other bodies, it was near-impossible to not move to the groove of the music. And that's just what Drake did. Moving to the beat, he did something that was at least close to dancing.

Tesla saw he was at least putting in the effort to have fun. "There you go! See? You can dance! You just gotta move to the music!" She bumped him with her hip, nearly knocking him into another dancer. Drake felt his iPod vibrate in his pocket, proceeding to fish for it to look at it. He pulled out both his iPod and the yellow crystal. On his iPod, the screen said "Sync Complete". Tesla moved over to him, placing a paw on his shoulder "What's wrong?"

"That's weird," he said. "My iPod said it synced with something. I had it in my pocket along with the crystal some dude gave me."

"Oh that's right!" Tesla grabbed it. "These are audio crystals. They hold sounds within themselves like voices and stuff. It's kinda like leaving a note on someone's door when they aren't there. Except ya know, it's a voice recording." She looked around, finding a particularly well-dressed wolf standing behind a long table. She threw the crystal at him, who caught it and began working on some unknown equipment.

Tesla turned back to Drake. "Come one! Let's go get some drinks!" She dragged him along with her over to the bar.

"But I'm not old enough to drink yet!" Drake tried resisting but to no avail.

"Relax, Drake! It's different around here than from where you're from," Tesla reassured. "Tonight we're gonna have fun!"

Upon reaching the exuberant bar, Drake looked at the shelves. They were stocked various ales, liquors, and spirits, as well as some glasses, mugs, bottles, and ingredients for making cocktails. Tesla hopped up on one of the bar stools and perused the shelves of liquid gold. The bartender, an exuberant cheetah, glided his way over to her.

"What can I get ya tonight?" He asked with a grin.

"2 sunburst cocktails," she said. "make 'em strong."

"Sure thing." The bartender went off, mixing various alcohols and fruits together in a container and retrieving 2 glasses in the blink of an eye. Moments later, He came back to her with 2 glasses, both glowing neon orange with chunks of ice. She slapped down some scales and gave Drake one of them.

"Now these are the real cocktails. The ones at the restaurant were virgins." Tesla sipped hers.

"I'm not much of a drinker." He said. "I try to stay away from that stuff."

"What?!" She yelled, well over the volume it needed to be since she was next to him, even with the loud music. "Why?!"

"I just don't trust myself. I don't wanna get wasted or drunk because I might do something bad. Most I've done was communion wine or a beer or two on my birthday."

"Ancestors Drake! Chill out! Lighten up and have some fun!" She took a swig of her cocktail, eyeing Drake as she waited for him to start drinking. He looked down at his glass. It didn't look much different from the version he had from the restaurant earlier that evening.

"Well, bottoms up," he thought. He sucked in a mouthful and downed it. It tasted the same overall, but the addition of alcohol burned the back of his throat. Seconds later, he got a warm sensation in his stomach, followed by a slightly more relaxed feeling in his mind. He took another sip, liking what he felt inside himself.

"There ya go! Now the party started!" She downed her drink. Drake followed in action. He shook his head, feeling a sudden rush of excitement. "Come on! Let's get back to dancing!"

She took him back to the crowded dance floor. After finding an adequate spot, Tesla stood on her hind legs, balancing as perfect as if she always walked on two legs. She started dancing, bouncing up and down and bobbing her head to the beat of the music. From the look on her face, she was really enjoying herself. Behind her closed eyes, the sky was the limit as to what she could've been imagining. All that was obvious was that she was having the time of her life. And being with a friend made it rather enjoyable for Drake despite not being a fan of the club scene. The night became more intense as time went on. Soon, Drake was doing something he never expected himself to do.

Tesla looked up at Drake. "Hey Drake," she said over the music, dancing against Drake who was behind her.

"Yeah?" He looked down at her.

"Let's go get some more drinks." She stopped dancing and began walking. She looked behind her and gave the leash a gentle tug, urging Drake to follow, to which he obliged of course.

They sat at the bar counter, and ordered the same drinks as last time. While taking occasional sips of heir drinks, they talked, Tesla starting the conversation.

"So," she began. "What do you say we make this night a bit interesting." She winked.

Drake raised an eye brow. "What did you have in mind?"

"Wanna do a few shots?"

Not exactly what he expected her to ask. "I don't know. Remember what I said earlier?"

"I know what you said." She took a swig of her drink. "But I've seen the way you act. You have discipline. You know your limits, your comfort zone, yourself. But tonight, I want to see you _really _enjoy yourself."

"You didn't see me having fun a few minutes ago?"

"I did. But I mean... Like... Having the time of your life sort of fun, ya know?" She put a paw on his thigh. "Come on. Please?" She fluttered her eyes at him.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine."

She hugged him tightly. "I promise you'll have so much fun!"

They called over the bartender, Tesla asking for shots in an almost uncomfortably enthusiastic manner. They bartender quickly went off and returned with a tray of small glasses just as quick as he left. They slapped some money onto he counter as the bartender poured an unknown concoction into the glasses. After which, he left them to their own motives.

Drake stared at the multiple small glasses, questioning whether or not it was a good idea of him to succumb to her peer pressure. Before he could back out of it, Tesla grabbed a glass.

"Alright, it's simple. We'll just take shots, alternating between the both of us. Got it?"

Drake grabbed a glass. "Got it."

Tesla took the first shot, setting the glass upside down onto the table after she finished. She licked her lips. "Your turn," she said.

Drake sighed inwardly. "I'm so going to regret this tomorrow..."

He downed it. Instantly, he felt the burn of the alcohol in the back of his throat and in his stomach. It was quite the surprise seeing as how it had Drake suddenly in a coughing fit. The flavor of sour apple was prominent, which didn't taste half bad for something with a massive amount of alcohol. He shook his head and overturned the glass onto the table. Tesla grinned. She downed another glass, practically unaffected. Drake was already feeling a bit unlike his usual self, what with the burning sensation in his gut and the altered state of his mind. One thing was for sure, he was definitely feeling good. About 4-5 more drinks into their session, Drake was no longer himself. He was well inebriated compared to Tesla who was only the slightest bit tipsy. And Tesla herself could see it from the slight smile on his face in combination with his relaxed eyes. Suddenly, a familiar song to Drake started playing.

"NO WAY!"

"What? What is it?" Tesla looked at him in confusion.

"D-dude! This... This i-... This... This is my soooooonnng!" Drake started snickering hysterically.

"What song are you talking about?"

"It's Bon Jovi! He-he's my man... man..."

"I don't even know who that-"

"It's Bad Medicine!" He grabbed 2 shot glasses and downed them in a flash. He then ran off, dragging Tesla with him for a change of pace despite still being the one wearing the collar. Bobbing and weaving between other dancers, he found a spot where he had just enough room for the two of them. Immediately he started dancing and singing his heart out. Despite being drunk, he was still able to sing and dance well. He grabbed Tesla by her paw and brought his arm around her, holding her tight as he danced. Tesla, being wrapped in his arm, was rather enjoying herself, almost as if Drake was trying to serenade her.

_"Your love is like baaaaaad medicine! Bad medicine is what I need oh oh ooohhh!"_ He twirled and tossed her to Tesla's surprise. It was astonishing he was still nimble on his feet and able to sing relatively well despite the fact he struggled to speak just a moment ago. Well into the song, Drake abruptly let go of Tesla and hopped onto a table and began dancing again, becoming the center of attention in the club. As Tesla watched on, Cynder happened upon her.

"Tesla! How have-" before she could complete her sentence, she noticed Drake dancing on a table. "Why is Drake dancing on a table?" She asked as she watched on.

"He's flat out drunk" she responded, as if proud of herself. They watched on until Drake hopped down, receiving a few pats on the back from random people. As he walked back to Tesla, he noticed Cynder.

"OH MY GOD IT'S CYNDER!" He ran up and started hugging all over her. "Awh man, I... I missed you s-so much!"

She stared at Tesla. "How much did he drink?"

Tesla pondered her question for a moment. "2 drinks and... A handful of shots."

"Ancestors, I think we need to get him home."

"Awh come on," Drake began speaking while still hugging Cynder. "I-I got an idea. Like... eh... W-we should l-like... Fffffffuck. Like right here... right n-now. In front of ever-ev-everyone."

"Drake!" Cynder yelled in astonishment.

Tesla decided to have a bit of fun with him and take advantage of his inebriation. "Drake, why don't you ever talk to me like that?"

He pointed his hand at her. "Hey, I'll... I'll have y-you know that I have a thing for b-black chicks."

She gave him a confused look, then looked at Cynder. "Yeah, we should get him home."

They gathered the others and promptly left. Tesla took him by the leash and walked him out. At one point on their way home, Drake collapsed on top of Tesla, leaving her to carry him on her back while he talked in his drunken stupor. She felt a sudden grasp on her rump, making her jump.

"D-damn girl. Y-you got a nice ass," she heard Drake say softly. She smiled and shook her head.

"Why thank you," she replied with self-infatuation. "I'm glad somebody noticed."

"Like, holy sh-shit. Y-you're soooooo hot." Tesla couldn't help but smile as she received endless praise like a fan praising their favorite artist's work.

They arrived. Upon walking through the door, they were greeted by the guardians as usual. "So how was everyone's night?" Terrador asked.

"Amazing," Cynder replied, speaking for everyone.

"Oh hey guys!" Drake said upon seeing the guardians. "What are you guys doing here?"

The guardians looked at Drake then at the rest of the group. Before anyone could ask, Tesla answered their soon-to-be question.

"He had a bit too much to drink" she stated matter-of-factly.

"Well," Volteer started. "Get him to bed. Hopefully he won't be regretting it in the morning."

Tesla took Drake to the bedroom. "Alright Drake, I gotta go home. I'll come back tomorrow morning. Sleep tight."

Drake hugged her. "Thanks Te-...Ti-... Tes-... Titties." He looked up, contemplating her name. He looked back at her. "Tesla."

She smiled. "Alright, dork. Time for bed."

"Fine" uttered exasperatingly.

Concluding the end of their night, Drake sluggishly changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and flopped into bed, leaving the others to their own business with the guardians, who were sure to go bed shortly. Finally, the alcohol went from a mind-numbing, happy feeling to a relaxed and mellow sensation, make his falling asleep almost instantaneous.

A/N: Hey everyone! I really am sorry this chapter was WAY delayed. Military life is very busy but rest assured, I'm still working on this story. A lot of this seemed really... I'm not sure how to put it. Maybe awkward to write? I don't know. So if some things seem weirdly placed or whatever, then that might be the problem. I got to have a bit of fun near the end of this chapter so hopefully this chapter doesn't seem too low-quality. With that being said, I hope you still like this EXCRUCIATINGLY long chapter (about 20 pages on my laptop.) Also, some people commented about finding condoms in Drake's bag... Believe it or not, that was actually thing I had written BEFORE some of you suggested, which was the best part xD.

- Dragonreaper 1-6

P.S. Fun fact: Cyril is derived from the Greek name Kyrillos which means "lordly" and "masterful" and further derived from Kyrios which means "lord". And turns out there was a saint in the Catholic church called Cyril of Alexandria. Actually, there was quite a few saints (Cyril of Jerusalem, Cyril of Turaw, etc.) and even a few popes. Pretty neat huh? xD


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